Saints secure home semi-final after flawless CBL season

MYRTELFORD’S CBL squad rounded off their perfect season with back-to-back wins on the weekend to finish the regular season undefeated on top of the ladder. The Saints hosted Shepparton Gators on Saturday evening, taking the win 69-49, before backing up and taking on Wallan Panthers on Sunday, which they won 77-40. Having narrowly downed the Gators in their first clash back in October, Myrtleford had their work cut out for them, but a massive first half settled the nerves. The Saints pushed a six-point lead at quarter time to a 15-point advantage by the half, performing equally well in offence and defence. While the Gators won the final quarter 18-12, the damage was done, with Myrtleford taking the win by 20 points. Ava Brock led the scoring for the home side with 18 points, with Jorja Reidy prolific with 16 points. Sunday’s match-up with Wallan was tipped to be a close affair, with the Saints only defeating the Panthers by 11 points the week before, but Myrtleford could sense their opportunity to put their opponents to the sword. A 23-10 opening term from the Saints put the Panthers on the back foot early, and the lead stretched out to 18 points by the half. The Panthers had no answer for the polished Myrtleford outfit, as the piled on the points to run out 37-point winners. Jordan Crisp top scored for the Saints with 14 points, while Chaye Crimmins pitched in with a pair of three-pointers. Coach Kory Batt said it was a huge accomplishment to go through to the semi-finals with a spotless 8-0 record. “We found this weekend really pleasing, to finish off undefeated is a pretty big honour, it’s something that I don’t think’s been done in the North East before, we’ve created a bit of history which is awesome,” he said. “It’s a credit to the girls, they were super all weekend, especially Sunday – having back up from the night before, they just came out firing. “It’s pleasing going into a finals series knowing that if we don’t have a good start that we can get our mojo back up and running. “The last couple of weeks, we’ve really been working hard on our offensive game, but on the weekend, defence was the key. “We were able to get on average nearly 10 turnovers a quarter, which just turns into good, easy baskets for us at the other end. “I can’t be prouder of the girls.” The Saints will take on the Panthers for the third time in as many weeks this Saturday at the Myrtleford Indoor Sports Stadium, with a spot in the grand final up for grabs. Batt hopes for a raucous home crowd to help cheer the side on. “It’s Myrtleford’s first home semi-final – even if you don’t enjoy the game of basketball, still come out and support the girls,” he said. “They’ve had an awesome season, it would be awesome to get a massive crowd out there, they deserve it. “We just need to go into it like it’s just a normal game, not try and be too big-headed because of the big win. “We’ve still got to do the basics, try and push them in transition and get in behind them. “We’re going to be working a lot on some of their structures that they did this week to try and combat that.” The Saints host Wallan Panthers in their CBL semi-final this Saturday from 5pm.

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