At full strength
Horsham Hornets will be at full strength when they try to stake their claim on a Country Basketball League grand-final berth on Saturday night.
The Hornets will hit the road to take on Geelong United in a knock-out south-west conference semi-final, and playing coach Tim Pickert believes his side can get the job done.
“It’s been good to have a week off and we are looking forward to getting out there,” he said.
“It’s the second time all year we’ve had everyone available, which is a good time to have it happen. We’re excited.”
The sides have met once this season, with Geelong getting the better of the Hornets by nine points at the start of December.
Pickert is confident the Horsham outfit can turn the tables at the weekend.
“We were undermanned last time, we didn’t have Jezza Mckenzie, Mitch Martin or Sam Breuer,” he said.
“Having them back is massive. It will allow us to play much fresher defence. We only had one guard last time, which made it a bit tough.”
Mckenzie, who has just signed a letter of intent to play college basketball in the United States, has enjoyed a stellar season for the Hornets. He has scored 273 points for the season at an average of 24.82 points a game.
Mckenzie and Pickert, 342 points at 24.43, have been the Hornets’ key avenues to goal all season, however, the side’s attacking depth is one of its key assets.
“If Jezza and I have a quiet night there are always others who will step up, like Mitch Martin and Matt Lovel in the last game we played,” Pickert said.
“When you have a whole team capable of shooting 10 to 15 points each, it’s pretty hard to guard. As a team you can stop a few players from getting a high score, but seven or eight?”
Pickert said it would take a team effort for his side to get over the line.
He said Geelong was in a similar position with a strong spread of scorers. “Defence will be key,” he said. “We need to be at our best defensively, because we can always score.”
Geelong United finished the regular season on top of the ladder, with the Hornets finishing third.
“They finished on top and the pressure is on them,” Pickert said.
“It’s going to be a tough game but we are confident.”
Pickert said there would be a changing of the guard next season, with several players retiring or moving on to higher-level opportunities.
“It’s been a tough year getting players to play and train and for a few players, it will quite possibly be their last season with us,” he said.
“To make the grand final with this group of players would mean everything.”
Horsham Hornets will take on Geelong United at AWA Alliance Bank Stadium at 7pm.
The victor will meet the winner of Saturday’s match between Mt Gambier Lakers and Colac Kookas at Mt Gambier.
The grand final will be at The Lighthouse, Portland, on February 8.