Chargers play it smart

FOUR wins on the bounce have thrust the Hobart women firmly into SEABL title contention and star import Britt Smart believes the best is still yet to come.

After a sluggish start, the Chargers have moved to a 5-4 record, which includes impressive victories against Sydney Uni and Nunawading on the road last weekend.

The side is one of four in a logjam in the middle of the table with the same win-loss record, with only Bendigo (8-0) and Kilsyth (8-1) separating from the chasing pack.

Hobart hosts Ballarat (3-4) at the DEC tomorrow night, with Smart confident the team can keep the momentum rolling.

“We are on a roll, I think it has been four games in a row and even the game before that we were playing the style we want to play,” Smart said.

“We are really starting to find our groove, I’m really proud of the girls. Before practices, especially on Thursdays, we always have a five-minute players-only team meeting, [to discuss tactics] — do we feel comfortable doing this or that, what do we like, what do we not like? I think that has really helped us come together on the court.

“Ballarat ... it is going to be a challenge but, with the group we have and being a home game, I think we have a great chance of winning.”

After missing the first two games of the season with a calf complaint, Smart is starting to show the form that had her marked as one of the league’s most potent scoring point guards. She is averaging 22.7 points at 46.7 per cent from the floor, as well as 5.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists.

The men split their two matches last weekend, edging out Mt Gambier at home on Friday night in a high-scoring, entertaining encounter before going down to bogey side Nunawading on Saturday.

The side was not helped by having Mathiang Muo and Zac White both fouled out midway through the last quarter, while coach Anthony Stewart was ejected in the dying stages of the 97-93 loss — another road defeat by less than five points.

“We could have a better record, we have dropped a few games but so far so good, trying to get past this first half of the season and in the second half get rolling,” Muo said. “In the second half of the season hopefully we mesh even better.”