Myrtleford's CBL Saints fight back to secure victory at Swan Hill

The longest road trip of the year will go down as a triumph for Myrtleford Saints in the third round of the CBL season. Making the more than eight-hour round trip on Saturday, the Saints overcame a sluggish start to bank their second win of the year, defeating the Swan Hill Flyers 83-69. The visitors’ legs must have taken some time to warm up, given the slow start to their match, trailing 14-21 at quarter time. However, as the match wore on, the Saints started to find their feet, bringing the margin to 32-41 by the half. Flyers’ Lachlan Somerville was starting to impose himself on the scoreboard, hitting baskets from up close and long range, so the Saints pulled some levers and worked into a full-court man-on defence, something which coach Marcus La Spina said worked amazingly well to bring down the frantic pace of the match. “We started off a bit slow, it’s a big road trip, over four hours to Swan Hill, so I think the boys just weren’t ready from the jump,” he said. “We changed up our defensive structure in the second half and it made a massive difference in slowing them down, making them go away from what was working, which was pushing the pace and playing a higher tempo game. “It was hot early and they had more of the ball, but we just decided to not make it easy for them to get the ball, we went into our full-court man [defence], started really pressuring the ball up early in the court. “We were able to get turnovers, or just burn the shot clock down and force them into something that ended up being a pretty tough shot.” The second half belonged to Myrtleford, with the Saints able to lock down the offence and punish on the counter, doubling Swan Hill’s third term points output 28-14 to head into the final quarter with a slim five-point lead. While Somerville threatened to spark a Flyers comeback, the Saints were able to hold firm and shoot with confidence to secure the win. La Spina said their structure worked wonders on the Flyers. “Once we get a bit of confidence and a bit of flow, I think the boys just stop overthinking it, we go back to the simple structures of our principles offensively,” he said. “If you’re open, you’re allowed to shoot it, everyone’s got the green light to shoot the ball. “Once we raised the tempo, in terms of playing that full-court man, the defence led to our offence and we were able to get some easy baskets and ease into the scoring. “When you get a few easy baskets, the boys build their confidence and we started hitting a few shots from outside. “Lach Russell, he was a bit slow to start but we changed a few things up at half-time and looked to get him the ball on that weak side and really attack the paint. “His match-up really couldn’t stop him, he was an absolute bull on the weekend in terms of getting to the hoop, and started finishing some tough lay-ups.” The Saints are on the road again this weekend, faced with the challenging prospect of taking on both Wodonga Wolves and Albury Cougars across Saturday and Sunday. Myrtleford play the Wolves from 6pm on Saturday at the Wodonga Sports and Leisure Centre, before backing it up and taking on the Cougars at the Lauren Jackson Sports Centre from 12pm Sunday.

Myrtleford's CBL Saints fight back to secure victory at Swan Hill

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