Tigers force decider with Lightning
The Southlands Boulevarde Willetton Tigers have forced a Women’s Quarter Final series decider against the Lakeside Lightning with a 74-58 victory in game two played at the Willetton Basketball Stadium on Saturday night.
Led by Melissa Marsh and Kate Malpass, the home side Tigers roared loud when it counted most on a night where defeat would spell the end of their 2011 campaign despite finishing as minor premiers.
Marsh topped all scorers with 20 points, while Malpass directed traffic from defence to attack in the 16-point victory.
Lakeside, in defeat, were served well by Heidi McNeil (18 points, 9 rebounds) and Tiahrn Flynn (10 points) along with Courtney Byrnes and Emily Fielding, though struggled with shooting throughout the match.
In front of a vocal home crowd, the home side made the perfect start and raced to a 26-9 lead at the first break with Marsh leading from the front with 12 points in the opening quarter, while ably assisted by Jasmine Hooper (6 points).
The visitors toiled away through McNeil and Jessica Van Schie but were behind the eight ball with Byrnes and Emily Fielding missing several scoring attempts.
Eager to maintain their quarter time advantage, the Tigers continued to master the boards in the second term with Zoe Harper and Ebony Antonio getting on the scoresheet. McNeil was notching up points for Lakeside while her teammate Laurianne Higgins was valuable in defence with rebounds under the basket.
Willetton led 38-22 at the half time interval, Lakeside though toiled hard in the third quarter through Fielding and Courtney Bayliss. Missed shots however from McNeil and Kaia Hammond had their side still down by 17 points, 56-39, at the last change.
The Tigers going on to record a comfortable win with Harper and Hooper pushing the margin out beyond 20 points in the last term before a late rally, and back-to-back three pointers from Flynn, and a drop in two by Higgins saw the deficit cut back to the final 16-point margin.
Both sides meet again Sunday at midday at the Willetton Basketball Stadium in the third and deciding game of the series where the winner will progress to next weekend’s semi finals while the loser will be eliminated from the 2011 championship race.
Article by Adam McBride at Willetton Basketball Stadium
Photo by Grant Lauterbach
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