Sunday afternoon was a rollercoaster of emotions for Tassie hoops fans. There was mixed results for the Hobart Chargers and Launceston Tornadoes in the preliminary finals of their respective competitions.
Hobart Chargers v Kilsyth Cobras
After securing a win in last weeks qualifying final over Sandringham, the Chargers eagerly watched on Friday night as their eventual opponent Kilsyth just got over the line against Bendigo in OT.
Backing up less than 36 hours later and flying to Tasmania was going to be a tough ask for Kilsyth. They battled hard, but the class of Hobart prevailed in the end, locking in a NBL1 South Grand Final spot.
Kilsyth began the game strong following some hot shooting by Corey Jeffs, he knocked down three baskets from outside in the opening five minutes. This gave the visitors a 13-10 lead midway through the first half. But the scoring dried up for the Cobras as Hobart went on a 14-0 run to finish out the quarter.
The Chargers held a double figure lead through the remainder the half, with import point guard AJ Harris playing a leading role. He led the team with 15 points, while running a patient offense that gave them an 11 point lead.
Hobart remained in control in the third quarter and looked set for a strong home victory,. However Kilsyth had one burst in the final quarter to keep their season alive.
After being held by Sam MacDaniel all game, Deng Deng scored the first five points of a 12-3 run which brought Hobart’s lead down to a single point. Some big baskets and clutch foul shooting by Sandifer in the final minutes though helped Hobart to a well earned 74-69 win.
For the Chargers AJ Harris finished with 21 points, nine rebounds, while Ole Angerstein contributing 13 points and 10 boards. Jamar Sandifer added 11 points and four rebounds and Sam McDaniel nine points and seven rebounds.
For Kilsyth Corey Jeffs top scored with 20 points, seven rebounds , and Tim Lang had19 points and four rebounds for the Cobras.
The Chargers now move on to the NBL1 South Grand final on Saturday against Mt Gambier, which is being held at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre. With the winner to represent NBL1 South at the National finals the following weekend.
Ringwood Hawks (#2) vs Launceston Tornadoes (#8)
The day started off with a heartbreaker for the Tornadoes, who came back from 19 points down in the second half to lose to the Ringwood Hawks 72-70 in overtime.
Having played a semi final match less than 24 hours earlier, there was some concern how the Torns will back up the following day. It did not seemed to not phase them early , as they matched it with the #1 ranked side with the scores locked at 20-20 at quarter time.
However it was the second quarter that was the talking point of the match, where it wasn’t until nine minutes and 57 seconds had elapsed on the game clock that Keely Froling scored the Torns first points of the quarter. By that time the Hawks had pushed out to a 36-22 half time lead, and Torns coach Sarah Veale needed to get their game, and season, back on track.
Launceston needed to lean on its experienced trio of Froling, Tolo and Griffin in the second half, and they responded in the third quarter, all scoring key baskets. But they struggled to make inroads to the scoreline, with Ringwood stars Marena Whittle and Digna Strautmane continually finding ways to keep the Torns at Bay.
That changed in the final quarter when the visitors went on a 14-4 run to be within two points with seven minutes remaining. Big shots were made at either end for the remaining of quarter, but nothing could separate the two and the match went to overtime.
Tolo was the target for Launceston, as she scored 7 of her game high 32 points in overtime, including a basket with a minute to go to put the visitors up three. However, that lead was short lived as Marta Hermida nailed a triple to bring scores back level. Then it was Trotto who nailed a late two for the Hawkes before a late three on the buzzer by Payne was offline.
That saw the Hawks produce the 77-75 victory to advance to next Saturday night’s Grand Final. In the end if was Whittle who was the standout player for Ringwood. She finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, Strautmane added 15 points, Hermida 15 points, 11 assists and seven boards.
For the Tornadoes, Tolo had arguably her best game of the season with 32 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Keely Froling had yet another double double with 16 rebounds and Kelsey Griffin 11 points, 16 boards, eight assists.