Newcomers a tall order

Duck wary of Diamond Valley

LADY Supercats captain Alex Duck concedes her line-up faces a largely unknown quantity when it hosts SEABL newcomer Diamond Valley tonight at the Arena.

“You go in a bit blind, but having said that we did get to play them in the pre-season tournament,” the guard said of the 10th-placed Eagles.

“They certainly didn’t have their full-strength squad, but most of them were there and they’re definitely a tough team.

“They’ve got a couple of WNBL players and they’re tall, which we’re not, other than Chelsea Poppens.”

The Eagles’ top-tier alumni include former Dandenong Rangers and now Canberra Capitals centre Lauren Scherf who, at 196cm, looks set to pose a sizeable challenge for the reigning champions.

While Scherf is the visitors’ standout with 21.7 points and 13.5 rebounds a game, another WNBL Capital and New Zealand native, Chevannah Paalvast (17ppg, 4.7rpg), is likely to be a key playmaker in the backcourt.

Emerging talent Abbey Wehrung has transitioned from regional rival Ballarat Rush to join the league’s latest franchise and will be looking to build on her 11 points-pergame average, while Geelong supporters will take more than a passing interest in the per- formance of former Lady Supercat Maddi Rocci (10ppg).

“Those girls are typical of the players who will make it hard to match up against,” Duck said. ‘ It’s going to be a tough challenge.”

The hard-working leader is determined to see some good come from an exhausting weekend across Bass Strait that saw two narrow losses.

“The Tassie road-trip was a tough one, particularly with that gap in the middle, we were just hanging around waiting for Sunday’s game,” Duck said.

“The positive thing that came out of it was that it wasn’t our best basketball, yet we were still in the position to win.”

Duck also acknowledges it will take time to blend two new imports, Daniela Wallen and Poppens, into the mix.

“They only had a week of training with us before the weekend,” she said.

“But once the girls get the feel for Australian basketball I think we’ll be a force.”