WITH their 67-64 win over Nunawading on Saturday, the Albury-Wodonga Lady Bandits lodged their most successful season in at least five years.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The three-point triumph was their fourth for the season and, fittingly, it was young gun Steph Gorman who led from the front.
The teenager dropped 19 points at an impressive clip of 53%, and had strong support from Adijat Adams (17pts, 22 rebounds) and Toccara Ross (15pts).
It was a gritty win, with the Lady Bandits trailing by four points at three-quarter time despite holding a five-point half-time lead.
They dug their heels in during the final stanza and sucked the like out of the Spectres’ offence.
The home side were restricted to just seven points in the last 10 minutes, while the Lady Bandits piled on 15 of their own.
It was tougher going on Sunday afternoon against the Ballarat Rush, with a 32-12 second quarter from the home side setting up a 19-point Lady Bandits defeat.
Though he was a little disappointed in Sunday's result, head coach Jim Wilson was proud of what his team had achieved.
“I'm extremely proud of the kids, in a game where we got down a couple of times, to be able to fight our way back in, get in front and hold on was great,” he said.
“Steph was excellent, she had 14 points in the first half so we probably could have done a better job of getting her the ball after half time.
“Adijat’s control on the glass was pretty special as well, 22 rebounds and I though she really outplayed their starting centre.
“For the girls it’s all about the numbers, and getting more wins than we have in the past is good – it reinforces that we’re heading in the right direction.
“The bulk of the team comes from Albury-Wodonga, they’re lead by a player (Emma Mahady) who comes from Albury-Wodonga.”
It was a tough weekend for the men, who went down 103-82 to Mt Gambier on Friday night before losing 96-86 on Saturday to Nunawading.
The losses leave them in sixth place, a game behind Sandringham and Kilsyth.