A-Grade
On Saturday we took on Bright at home with both teams going into the game without a win this season. We knew it was going to be a tough one, both fighting for the win.
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First quarter we came out strong with good defensive pressure, however, the shooters under the ring were a bit shaky and couldn’t convert the goals, going down by two at the first break.
Second quarter was very much a goal-for-goal game with both teams taking turns at holding the lead.
Going into the second half of the game the scores were level the girls knew they had to step it up, which they did, converting the defenders’ turnovers into goals.
Our shooters were struggling to convert their first attempts, but they did rebound well converting on the second attempts.
The girls’ hard work across the court paid off when they got the win by two goals.
Score: 38-36
Awards:
Best on Ray White: Elyse Felstead, our ever reliable defender, putting heaps of pressure on the shooters.
Cellabrations: Meagan Hausner, worked hard in multiple midcourt positions providing heaps of talk and encouragement to the girls.
Royal Hotel: Eliza Walker, new to the team Eliza worked well with Elyse in defence, taking strong rebounds.
B-Grade
Benalla came up against Bright this weekend, looking to continue to hone their skills, work rate and team roles.
Benalla started inconsistently with patches of good play.
Bright’s pressure and ability to make the most of turnovers made for a relatively even first quarter.
Benalla lifted its game in the second quarter with a hot start, led by great defensive pressure in the midcourt by Bec Mathieson.
The defensive pressure also lifted, along with the accuracy of shooters, Brooke Bradshaw and Sally Burgess. Benalla was out to a solid lead at half-time.
The team trialled new combinations across the court in the third quarter resulting in them having to adapt their play. Bright brought on fresh legs and challenged Benalla across that same quarter.
Gemma Mathieson’s defensive pressure and a more settled fourth quarter across the court resulted into in a great win for Benalla.
Awards: Sally Burgess; Kellie Holmes; Gemma Mathieson
B-Reserve
We came up against Bright, which had started the season as 3-0.
We anticipated a tough game and went into it knowing we needed to show our strength.
From the onset of the game, we demonstrated strength in attack, led by young guns Hannah Ely and Jemma Smith, who settled into their first game together and gelled well in the ring moving well and creating space for one another.
Courtney Sammon played a vital role in WA feeding the goalers and through her defensive pressure throughout the midcourt.
Catherine Dennis showed once again how unstoppable she is throughout the entirety of the court, intercepting and being a key player in bringing the ball down to the goalers.
The defensive pressure from Renae Hughes, Keeley Sheehan and Chloe Dods meant that Bright were forced to earn all of their goals.
Each quarter the girls were able to focus on areas of improvement and continue to expand their lead, seeing Benalla defeat Bright 55-37.
Awards: Catherine Dennis, Hannah Ely, Jemma Smith
Under-17
Under-17s came up against Bright this week and the girls were hopeful of getting another win on the board.
Our defenders started strong making it difficult for Bright to convert on the scoreboard, our midcourt continued to flow and the girls really seem to be hitting there stride.
Our shooters took every opportunity to get scores on the board working together and communicating well.
We were neck and neck for the whole four quarters and unfortunately went down by one point to Bright 30-31.
We look forward to facing them again and will be looking to even the score.
Awards: Tiahna Neal, Kaylah Devlin, Emily Baker
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