Kilsyth Cobras Jo Werner puts up a tough shot against Ballarat.By Ben Turner
KILYSTH Cobras fought all the way but were defeated 106-100 by the Ballarat Miners.
The loss and two wins by the AIS takes any chance of making finals out of the Cobras hands. They must win all their remaining games and hope the AIS lose all theirs to make it.
Kilsyth raced out to a 14-2 lead with Joe Werner (32 points, 15rbds, 4 assists) recording 10 first quarter points to lead the Cobras to an early advantage
Coach Grant Wallace had his team prepared knowing that a win was a must to keep the slimmest of finals chances alive, the Cobras came out playing like their life was on the line and extended the lead in the 2nd term as Werner again had 10 pts and was proving tough to stop.
But Ballarat hit back hard in the third term with Ricky Henderson (18pts) converting from downtown the Miners managed to take a 2 point lead into the 4th after a 34-21 quarter.
The 4th quarter became a battle, and with the referees starting play a part, tempers flared when Marcus Toney El hit Jackson with a cheap shot and after the referees stopped play without a call both teams got into an extended pushing match
Ballarat gained the ascendency following the brawl as the referees continued to be a factor.
Ballarat hit their free throws while Kilsyth were unable to regain the momentum.
Kilsyth must now regroup for a battle with the Geelong Supercats on the road next Saturday night, the first of 3 games in 7 days for the Cobras which will see them play Bendigo on July 9 in SEABL Big Wednesday action before taking on arch rival the Knox Raiders in the ‘Battle for the Ashes’ on July 12.
The Lady Cobras were also defeated by the inform Ballarat Lady Miners 96-77 and now face a tough road ahead to the finals.
A win would have all but locked away a finals position but Kilsyth will now be forced to battle it out with Ballarat for the last place in the 2008 SEABL playoffs.
The task could be even harder for the Lady Cobras with star player Sarah Parsons suffering a late game rib injury which could see her miss the crucial 3-game stretch this coming weekend. Kilsyth will play Bendigo at home in SEABL Big Wednesday action before travelling to Frankston and arch rival Knox next weekend in a stretch that will decide whether they are a contender or pretender in 2008.
Hayley Moffatt led Kilsyth with 17pts and Clare Papavs had 16pts but it was the Ballarat duo of Musselwhite and Coston that beat with Lady Cobras as they had 24 pts a piece.
Kilsyth jumped out of the block in the first term to lead by as much as 9 points before Ballarat closed the gap
But the winner of the game was always going to be the team that could lift their defensive intensity. Kilsyth were unable to match the Lady Miners defensive hustle, shooting at just 35% compared to 53% and Ballarat took control early in the 3rd term and never looked back.
This game blew out early in the 4th term and the result became less important with the crucial points split coming into play.
Ballarat had the chance to go up by 26 pts, but a missed lay up turned into Kilsyth free throws and the Lady Cobras were able to hold onto the split.
The Lady Cobras must now rebound quickly as they take on the League leading Bendigo on SEABL Big Wednesday, this coming week 2nd July at the Kilsyth Sports Centre from 7.30pm.
