SECBL BASKETBALL FINALS.

Roos-Lakers stormed into the South East Coast Basketball League Grand Final with a commanding win over Cougars at the Ice House on Wednesday night.

Talented forward Kingsley Clark joined the team late in the season and then the addition of Pioneers American recruit, Andy Tipton, put the icing on the cake for Roos-Lakers.

They stamped their authority on the game in the opening seconds when guard Jason Baron hit from outside in the first shot of the game. Tipton and Clark followed up and a significant gap appeared between the scores at an early stage. 

At the other end Cougars struggled to convert as the defence swarmed on shooters. Pioneer Dallas Jeffree was relentless in his efforts to subdue the strengths of Roos-Lakers and get a handle on control for Cougars. He was however under continual pressure especially when he looked to score. Despite this he finished with a personal tally of 36 of his side’s 55 points. Tipton, Clark and former Pioneer Craig Stratford were the main contributors to the Roos-Lakers’ team total of 88 points.

The ascendancy shown by Roos-Lakers in this preliminary final suggests that they will start red-hot favourites for the Summer season SECBL premiership.

Panthers Wizards, winner of the second semi-final, face two huge challenges; come up with strategies to hold the prolific opposition scorers and find avenues to build a winning score against the tall defence.

Panthers returned to the winner’s circle with a win over Cats in the SECBL Women’s preliminary final. The game appeared to be a hard slog for both sides. Panthers had several surges during the game and looked set to win comfortably but Cats, led by State junior Kate Seebohm, fought back to keep their chances alive. Seebohm had 37 points for the game in an outstanding performance. Late in the game Panthers appeared secure with a double figure lead only to see Cats close the margin to 8, 67-59 at the final siren.

Sonia Bawden was the key to Panthers’ win. She had a steadying influence and commanded close attention inside. Her 19 points along with 12 from Courtney Walters and 10 from Rebecca Trench guided Panthers to their win.

Mention must also be made of Abby Longhead’s solid defence on Seebohm, who had to pull out all stops to counter her determined efforts. Twelve of her 37 points came in the last quarter when Coach Sonya Knight gave Loughhead some bench time.      

Panthers will be looking for more consistency in their efforts in the SECBL Women’s Grand Final against Cougars next Wednesday night.