Post-Game Report November 24 v Bendigo Spirit
The Jayco Southside Flyers hit the road for Indigenous Round to take on the unbeaten Bendigo Spirit at Selkirk Stadium, Ballarat. The Flyers were without Vice Captain Maddy Rocci, as she was ruled out of the game with a hip injury. After a stellar first half of the game, the Flyers fell agonisingly short in the final term, 71-79.
It was always going to be a tough task for the Flyers to end the Spirit’s perfect start to the season however, they seemed to get the upper hand early with Sami Whitcomb drawing two early personal fouls, sending her to the pine in the opening minutes. Scoring was slow for both teams to begin the game, and the Spirit looked to be getting their eye in early with Abigail Wehrung and Kelly Wilson converting from long range. Naz Hillmon continued her strong start to the season working hard in the paint and firing from long range to level scores 11-11, mid-way through the first.
Dallas Loughridge began to step up in the absence of Rocci. She found her rhythm early to give the Flyers the lead late in the quarter. Casey Samuels of the Spirit answered on the other end with a triple to level scores again. Mikayla Vaughn checked in, in the final seconds and immediately made an impact as she gave the Flyers an 18-16 lead with a tip-in at the first break.
Hillmon was working her way into another big game as she opened the second converting from beyond the arc to extend the Flyers’ lead to five. An Alice Kunek jumper extended the Flyers lead again and forced Coach Kereama into an early timeout to talk things over.
Marianna Tolo and Wehrung responded from the time out and combined made baskets to cut the Flyers’ lead to two points. Flyers Head Coach Kristie Harrower was less than impressed and called a timeout. From the timeout, the Flyers went on a 16-0 run, with the likes of Hillmon and Vaughn holding their own on the defensive end bringing in tough boards, and Bec Cole leading the charge with the scoring run.
The early substitution to Whitcomb seemed to work in favour of the Flyers as she had little impact in the early stages of the game. The Flyers kept her scoreless until she headed to the line and broke the 16-0 run with her first points. The Flyers, however, maintained their strong defence to finish the half leading, 42-27.
The momentum was all with the Flyers as Carley Ernst and Loughridge hit a pair of triples to put the Flyers in front by 17 points. Tolo was putting in the work under the ring and was beginning to be tough to guard as she helped the Spirit chip away at the Flyers’ lead. A timeout mid-way through the third to stop the momentum shift to the Spirit, wasn’t enough as Veronica Burton found her form in the game and was becoming damaging. Hillmon and Vaughn managed to keep the scoring going for the Flyers as they held on to an 11-point lead heading into the final term.
It was basket-for-basket to begin the fourth until the Spirit went out on an 18-0 run off the back of costly turnovers and missed shots from the Flyers. Hillmon fouled out of the game in the dying minutes, with a technical foul. This proved to be the final difference in the game, and despite some late baskets from Cole, the Flyers were unable to stop the scoring flow of the Spirit who went on to record their 6th straight win.
Southside Flyers Stat Leaders:
Bec Cole: 18 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast
Naz Hillmon: 17 pts, 8 reb, 5 stl
Alice Kunek: 11 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast
The Southside Flyers return home to the State Basketball Centre on Sunday December 1 to take on the Perth Lynx in their annual Lifeline Round game. Tip-off is 12:30 pm and tickets are selling fast! You can purchase your tickets here and you can watch the game live & free on 9GO.