Sport
1 December, 2022
Do-or-die for Lady Blazers with back-to-back in mind
The Maryborough Lady Blazers will be putting every-thing on the line on Sunday as they look to defend their title in their do-or-die semi-final against the unbeaten Bendigo Braves. Needing to win their final game of the season to play finals, the...
The Maryborough Lady Blazers will be putting every-thing on the line on Sunday as they look to defend their title in their do-or-die semi-final against the unbeaten Bendigo Braves.
Needing to win their final game of the season to play finals, the Lady Blazers delivered, beating Swan Hill 73-44 last week to ensure that they would have another crack at defending their premiership — with the team that they defeated last season their first hurdle.
Maryborough will have been impressed with the spread of points that were scored in their victory over the Flyers last week, after much of the load the week before had been on Claire Blower and Maddy Egan to score regularly. While Blower and Egan still combined for 35 points on Saturday, they also had Keisha Tonzing score 13 points, while Claire Constable added a further 11 points.
A similar level of production will give the Blazers the best chance to inflict the Braves’ first loss of the season on Sunday, given Blower and Egan’s ability to score in the paint this season. Blower ended the home-and-away as the scoring champion, averaging 21.3 points per game, while Egan had the third-highest points production in the competition, averaging just under 18.5 points per game.
The last meeting between the Lady Blazers and Braves was just two weeks ago, when a shorthanded Maryborough were beaten by 22 points, 90-68.
On that occasion, Blower was the leading scorer with 21 points, while Elisa Pica added 13 and Egan 10. Zali Linton and Ella Patten were two young guns who were given the opportunity to play with the Blazers and scored their first buckets.
However, compared to that meeting, Maryborough will have plenty more depth this time around compared to that meeting. Charlotte Cain, Keely Hare, Constable and Bella Westbrook have all featured in the team since, giving the Lady Blazers some more guard depth and scoring options.
Despite the Braves finishing on top of the ladder, the game is currently slated to be played at the Maryborough Sports and Leisure Centre on Sunday afternoon.
A victory for the Lady Blazers will mean that they will have the opportunity to defend their title against either the Kyneton Lady Tigers or Mildura Heat on Saturday, December 10.