Warriors host CBL semi finals
The Warragul Warriors men will have home court advantage when they host Country Basketball League semi finals at Warragul Leisure Centre on Saturday night.
The Warriors men maintained their advantage at the top of the ladder, comfortably accounting for Bairnsdale Bullets 81-54 recently.
Missing Ambu Uliando proved no issue for the top team, with Sam Flanders stepping uup to lead the scoring with 24 points.
His efforts were matched by Andrew Savige, who shot 23 points for the Bullets, but Savige could not find the support from his teammates.
Mike Santo and Murray Myers both shot double figures for the Warriors, who skipped away following a tightly contested first term.
Savige put the Bullets in front mid-way through the first quarter, before the Warriors got a late run on to lead by six.
Savige was single-handedly keeping the Bullets in the contest, cutting the margin to three, but the weight of numbers would eventually win out.
An early three pointer to Myers re-established a small buffer before consecutive threepointers to Flanders to begin the fourth term opened the floodgates as the lead carried beyond 30.
A pair of late three-pointers pulled the margin back for the Bullets, but the damage had been done.
The Warriors followed up with a 72-63 win over Moe Meteors before taking the opportunity to rest up with the bye ahead of the finals.
Scoring was shared in a tight match throughout, led by Santo (18), Scott (13) and Flanders (12).
Meanwhile, it was again mixed results for the Warriors women’s team, squaring the ledger at 1-1 for the final round.
The long road trip to Bairnsdale did not deter the Warriors, thumping the Bullets 10324.
While most of the Warriors players hit the scoresheet, Peta Rhodes and Stacie Myers were nigh on unstoppable, shooting a whopping 53 points between them.
Kylie Mullen (15 points) and Hannah McKenzie (12) also chipped in.
It was also a strong defensive effort in a clinical performance, with Bairnsdale’s top scorer Chloe Watson managing half the Bullets’ score. No other Bullet scored more than four points.
The Warriors had 17 points on the board before the Bullets could score, and were never headed.
The Warriors went down to the Moe Meteors in a tight contest on Sunday, 52-43.
The Warriors simply found it harder to score, with Rhodes and Myers unable to repeat their exploits from the Saturday match.
Alex Dun top scored with 11 points, with the Warriors keeping in touch before the Meteors broke away late.
The Warriors will finish fifth on the ladder, and look to next season hoping to build on the glimpses of good form shown at the back end of the season.