The Maverick women’s hopes of a double chance and a home final have imploded after the weekend’s double header round of the Central Australian Basketball League. Saturday night saw the Mavericks travel to Pasadena, where the women were unable to surmount the height and pressure of the Sturt Sabres, dropping just their fourth game of the season 39-78. The following day they hosted the Forestville Eagles and went down 52-71 with a depleted squad.

The Lady Mavs entered the double header weekend with a depleted squad, Amanda MacDermot underwent surgery on her fifth metacarpal last weekend and will be lucky to return for finals, president of the Eastern Mavericks Basketball Club Neil Lean stated that it was underrated how much her absence would affect the team “she brings the team together and provides such presence and experience out there”. The Mavericks were also without Tess Madgen, who was expected to return from the Australian squad, she was however run down from the world champs and a bout of illness.
The Sabres managed to dominate every stat on the night, Madgen’s defensive efforts were badly needed against a side who pulled in 23 offensive rebounds thanks to the height and physicality of Amy Shaw and Hannah Bowley, who also totalled 16 and 9 points respectively. The opening 5 minutes of the game saw the lead change 6 times, in the latter 5 of the quarter the Sabres went on a 10-1 run to lead by 8 at the first break, they pushed their advantage and stretched the lead in all of the following quarters to double the Mavs and win the game by 39.

The Mavericks lost another player as Heather Purdie left the court in the third with a rolled ankle. With 23 assists to the Mavs 9, and ten fewer turnovers it was a straightforward victory for Sturt, who now sit 1 win clear in second place for the double chance. Georgia Green continues to develop into a future star for the Mavericks, her huge leap helped her on to 8 rebounds and a team high 9 points. The final scores, Eastern Mavericks 39 (Green 9, Megan Thomas 8) were defeated by Sturt Sabres 78 (Shaw 16, Hannah Richards 11, Molly Lewis 10).

In Sundays match at the Mt Barker Rec Centre the Mavs got off to a slow start and failed to lead the game at any time. They were once again outrebounded by their opponents and although most of the stats resemble a close game, it was the shooting efficiency that separated the two, Forestville’s Olivia Thompson, Alexandra Duncan and Jess Fergus were on form with a combined 39 points at 56 per cent between them. Jemma Thacker led the way in points for the Mavericks with 16, though Megan Thomas was the only one who maintained a FG efficiency to match Forestville and had 10 points. Thompson and Fergus hit the court running, scoring Forestville’s first 8 points to get their lead building, and continued into the second and third quarters as the Mavericks did their best to chase them down. Thacker went 1 from 8 in the first, her confidence rocked she slowed down her tempo and made 4 of 8 for the remainder of the game, including 2 important baskets that added to a Mavericks run and saw them close to within 2 points.

However the Eagles responded with an 11-0 run of their own, broken by a basket from down town for Georgia Green just before the siren, Forestville entered the half time break with a 10 point lead. In a very even third term Shannon Tarran finally got on the scoreboard after a quiet first half, Thacker made her second three pointer of the night to claw the Eagles lead back to 5 and the Mavericks won the term by a point. Forestville dominated the final stanza scoring 18 points to Easterns 8, Megan Kermond ran out the entire quarter and scored 9 points alone. In another injury blow for Eastern, Thomas staggered off court in the final 30 seconds and was taken away after the game by paramedics with a suspected broken jaw. Eastern Mavericks 52 (Thacker 16, Tenille Searl 11, Thomas 10) defeated by Forestville Eagles 71 (Thompson 17, Fergus 14).

This coming weekend the Eastern Mavericks will travel to the home of the Southern Tigers at Morphett Vale, the women’s game will commence at 6:30 with the men to follow at 8:15pm.

Stats Webcast - Sabres Vs Mavericks

Stats Webcast - Mavericks Vs Forestville

By Lachlan Eggers