Plenty at stake in derbies thriller
THE stakes have never been higher for the two Tasmanian SEABL derbies, with this Friday shaping up as the biggest night in recent memory for basketball in the state.
Hobart swept its respective road trips to Ballarat and Dandenong at the weekend, with the men locking in a double chance and giving themselves an opportunity for a top-two spot and a pair of home finals.
And the women have climbed back into the top eight heading into the last round — setting up mouth-watering blockbusters against the North West Thunder and Launceston at the DEC.
While the Chargers men are fighting with Nunawading for second spot and home court advantage in the quarter-finals, the Thunder will be playing for their playoff lives.
It all points to another epic chapter in the intrastate derby, with men’s coach Anthony Stewart expecting plenty of fireworks.
“It doesn’t get any bigger than this,” he said after his side defeated the Rangers 99-90 yesterday.
“Massive for both teams, we are desperate to get that toptwo spot, they are desperate to make playoffs.
“The rivalry will be full-on next Friday, not just us but for the women as well who have to win to make playoffs.
“It will be a special night of basketball.”
Stewart praised the resilience of his group, who overturned a 15-point deficit against the Miners on Saturday night to storm to a 101-95 victory on the back of a 36-20 last quarter.
Craig Moller had another massive performance against his former side, with 37 points and 13 rebounds, Tre Nicholls also had a double-double with 22 points and 10 assists, while a fully fit Mathiang Muo was injected back into the starting line-up and poured in 24 points. The trio combined again for 69 points in Dandenong, with Tiri Masun- da (10) and Zac White (16) also hitting double figures.
Second spot will be determined by percentage, with Hobart and Nunawading locked in their head-to-head.
It means if the Spectres defeat Bendigo in the final round, the Chargers will need to win by six more points.
The equation is simpler for the women, who only need to knock off the Tornadoes — who are chasing a topfour spot of their own — to guarantee hanging on to eighth.
Their impressive weekend was spearheaded by Klara Wischer, who dropped a career-high 37 points on Dandenong yesterday in the 89-73 result.
“We have faced a hell of a lot of adversity throughout the year and their resilience to get us to this point and then deliver this weekend to keep our season alive is really pleasing,” coach Dwain Davie said.
“Based on the results this weekend, we go into the eight now on head-tohead and I think, if we win next weekend, we can’t get knocked out.
“If we lose, we will be relying on Geelong losing to Canberra.”