Tracy Village on track for 13th-straight title as stand-in skipper sets the tone

TRACY Village will be heavily favoured to win a phenomenal 13th-straight title after its comprehensive 64-36 win over Lightning in women’s Darwin Basketball League Season 1 action on Friday night.

Stand-in captain Tikesa Docherty-Cole led by example with 25 points, the Jets winning yet another minor premiership.

“It was a really good game. We wanted to put into practice what we had worked on at training,” Docherty-Cole said.

“We worked on our defensive pressure and I was really happy with how we defended.”

The win did not come easy for the DBA powerhouse team.

“Keisha Tinley got injured, Delsey Ah Wang is out injured and Kylie Duggan is out (with Thunder VFLW commitments),” Docherty-Cole said.

“So Leah Seden (13 points) and Tyla Cubillo (three points) stepped up.

“Tyla played an awesome game.”

The second-placed Lightning was, however, without its star and the competition’s leading average pointscorer (26.09) – Claire O’Bryan.

“We hoped Claire would play to give us an insight on what we’ll face in the finals,” Docherty-Cole said.

“But we’ll go into the finals focused on our own game.

“We wanted some form going into the finals and now we’ve got it, and all the girls have a great mindset.”

Erin Geer also made her mark with six points, in her first game back at the Jets after her rookie season at Gladstone in the Queensland Basketball League.

Geer should still qualify for finals after playing six Division 1 games earlier in the season.

Meanwhile, Palmerston (Brittany Ward 18 points) beat Eagles 67-18.

And in men’s League action, Palmerston (Breland Hogan 22 points) beat Eagles 99-39.

Jets (Ned Stevens 23 points) prevailed 89-69 over Lightning.