Buccs season over
The Geraldton Buccaneers’ fairytale run into the finals came to a screaming halt on Saturday night.
Kalamunda Eastern Suns ended the Buccs’ season by beating Cockburn Cougars and stealing eighth position on the ladder.
Geraldton defeated the Perth Redbacks 110-85 on Saturday night at Activewest Stadium.
Kalamunda’s superior head-to-head record against the Buccs meant their season continues despite both sides winning 12 games for the season.
Buccaneers’ coach Ray Evans said the damage was done early in the year for Geraldton.
“It is all our own doing from earlier in the season,” he said.
“I can not fault what the guys have done in the last half of the season.
“They kept playing with energy and if things had of worked out better then we would probably be cemented in the finals.
“I think we just need to change a few things and get a bit of luck and I think we can be serious contenders really soon.”
A jam-packed Activewest Stadium greeted the home team for their final regular season game of the year on Saturday night.
The blue and gold overcame a sluggish start to the game to lead by four points at the first change.
After quarter time the Buccaneers put their foot down and pieced together their best quarter for the year.
They netted a whopping 39 points to their opponents’ 26.
Geraldton connected on six of their nine three pointers to lead by 62-45 at the main change.
Luke Wrensted played his best SBL game in the absence of injured star Daniel Thomas and led the charge in the first half.
Americans, Morgan Sabia and Michael Lay then took over the game in the second half.
Wrensted finished with 16 points while Sabia netted a game high 29 points and Lay scored 26.
Evans said he was pleased to finish the season on a good note.
“We probably lacked a bit of spark early and I think we were flat but when we found that spark and energy we really took it to them,” he said.
“You get out there sometimes and you feel heavy footed but once we got on a roll you could see the energy come back and the crowd really got behind us.
“Our defence was good, we really restricted them and when we pushed the ball down the court we looked good.”
Article by Taylor Courtland (Geraldton Guardian)
Photo by Darren Speedie (Vision Inspired Photography)
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