Buccs book a place in the Semi's
A master coaching stroke, a bit of luck and some destiny all contributed to Jerrah Young’s game winning shot which sent the Sun City Plumbing Buccaneers into the SBL semifinals on Saturday night.
The Buccs won 93-92 over the South West Slammers after Young grabbed an offensive rebound and made a shot with just four seconds on the clock.
It was an early birthday present for the American import who turned 29 yesterday.
The Buccs led by as many as 12 points in the final term, but with 16 seconds left they called a time-out and found themselves trailing by a point.
“He (coach Mark Heron) said to me ‘sub in’ and I kind of froze,” Young said about what happened during the team’s final timeout.
“I was meant to clear out and I cleared out to the side of the floor which I thought was right, but actually it was wrong.
“I had to rush to the other side and I got the ball and gave it to Bennie and as the shot went up I ran Mat over.
“I did not care who was there, I saw the ball and my eyes lit up. As I was falling back I threw the ball up there and it went in.”
The win booked the Buccs’ semifinal ticket and they will play Lakeside in the best-of-three series.
Lakeside’s series with Stirling Senators went to three games and triple overtime on Saturday night.
The Lightning has not beaten the Buccs this year with Geraldton claiming two victories 121-97 and 90-83.
Young said there was confidence among the Buccs camp following the series win over the Slammers.
“Overall I thought the performance was great early on,” he said.
“Basketball is a game of runs and they made their run and we had a few down moments.
“In my opinion it is about how you respond and we got the win and in the result it is not going to say how you won, just that you won.”
Aaron Ralph top scored with 29 points on Saturday night while Bennie Lewis, who left the court in the final term with an injured stomach after a heavy screen, scored 25.
He also played good defence well on Slammers coach and star player Ty Harellson and restricted the point guard to just three of 16 shooting.
Markus Monroe was the Slammers‘ star and although he also struggled with shooting touch, he was very creative with ball in hand.
Article by Taylor Courtland: Geraldton Guardian
Photo by Natasha Gilmartin: Geraldton Guardian
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