Mon
Jul 3, 2023
Bendigo climbs yet another mountain
Anthony Radford

“We showed the consistency we needed to do the things we needed to do, and we did them well.”
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Champions IGA Bendigo Braves Women coach Mark Alabakov had Friday night’s away clash against the third-placed Mount Gambier penciled in as a danger game for his undefeated chargers.
Coming up against the second best offensive team in the league on their parochial home court in a week star guard Amy Atwell was away on Opals duty was always going to be a tough assignment.
But as they have done all year, Bendigo stepped up a gear when it mattered most to record a comfortable win, their 18th straight for the NBL1 South season.
After an even start, Bendigo slowly pulled away in the first quarter, leading 23-17 at the first break on the back of eight points from Kasey Burton.
As expected, Mount Gambier hit back, going on an 11-point run in the first three minutes of the second term to take a five-point lead. But a 9-0 Bendigo run wrestled the lead back, the Braves going into the main break up 43-36.
As they have done a few times this season, Bendigo made the third quarter all theirs, hitting tough shots against a physical defense, piling on 22 points to 10 to take a 19-point buffer into the last quarter.
Despite Mount Gambier throwing everything at Bendigo in the last quarter, the Braves were able to control the game, winning comfortably 75-68.
Meg McKay was again unstoppable inside, with 22 points and 16 rebounds. Burton finished the night with an impressive 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Cassidy McLean again stepped up her scoring in Atwell’s absence, with 13 points.
Alabakov said the highlight of the night for him was how well his team stuck to the scout, especially at the defensive end.
“To hold a powerhouse scoring outfit that averages 88 points to just 68 was huge,” he said.
“We were able to nullify the impact of a lot of really important players, until we were 20 points up.
“We also did a brilliant job of holding our nerve at different parts of the game when we were tested.”
Alabakov said his team won the strategic battle and showed how high their basketball IQ is.
“The challenge for most teams is you only need one weak link in the chain for things to go amiss defensively,” he said.
“We showed the consistency we needed to do the things we needed to do, and we did them well.”
Photo - Craig Dilks Photography