By Colin MacGillivray
THE Seymour Blasters men will aim to put the finishing touches on a Country Basketball League north-east division premiership three-peat when they take on the Benalla Breakers in Saturday’s grand final at Albury.
The Blasters overcame a spirited semi-final challenge from Mitchell Shire rival Wallan to book their spot in the premiership decider, running away with the game in the fourth quarter to win 87-68.
Seymour and Wallan also contested women’s semi-finals on Saturday, but both were unsuccessful, with the Blasters falling to Albury 75-94 and Wallan succumbing to Wodonga 43-66.
The men’s semi-final started well for the Blasters, who jumped out to a 14-2 first-quarter advantage in front of a vocal home crowd at Seymour Sports and Aquatic Centre.
In the absence of forward Keenan Gorski, who tore his meniscus in the final home-and-away game against Wallan, Seymour leaned on Tyler Best’s drives to the rim and Jordan Hockley’s outside shooting.
But the young Panthers refused to be rattled and worked their way into the game, with big man Luke Liesegang displaying nimble footwork to the ring and a soft shooting touch from the perimeter to score seven points in the first term.
Liesegang and fellow co-captain Ryan Philippe were among the division’s top scorers this season, but the Blasters made it clear from the outset they would not allow Philippe to beat them.
Seymour double and at times triple-teamed Philippe, forcing him to give up the ball.
While Liesegang and Dion Stacey took advantage of the attention Philippe drew in the first half, Seymour coach Craig Hockley said his team remained committed to its strategy.
“In the second half we stepped up another level defensively. We forced them to turn the ball over a few times and it gave us a bit of a break,” he said.
“In the first half we were good early, but I thought we were shooting the ball a little bit too early in our offence and they weren’t dropping.
“Once we fixed that and came out with a bit more patience in the second half, things looked much better.”
Craig Hockley said Seymour had success when double-teaming Philippe in its final home-and-away match against Wallan, but the Panthers adjusted.
“Last week [Philippe] was trying to force shots up, whereas this week he was getting into the paint, planting two feet and kicking it back out,” he said.
“That’s obviously an adjustment they made, and Luke and Dion made some threes in that first half, which in the second half they didn’t make.
“We were wary of that and made sure we were able to challenge the guy that popped out. In the second half we made sure we at least got a hand up and contested the shot.”
Seymour’s defensive efforts reaped dividends in the second half, with Wallan scoring only 31 points after the main break to the Blasters’ 48.
Best led the Blasters in scoring with 25 points, with Jordan Hockley adding 18 and centre Tom O’Connor notching 15.
Liesegang finished with a team-high 20 points for Wallan, with Stacey scoring 19 and Philippe held to a single-digit score for the first time all season with nine.
The Blasters have a chance to cap an unbeaten season with a third successive premiership, but will be challenged by Benalla’s livewire guard Eric Miraflores and centre Tom Downie – averaging 22 and 15.6 points a game respectively.
In their last meeting on January 22, Seymour emerged with a 71-60 win, with Best scoring a season-high 33 points.
Women’s basketball teams bow out
The title defence of Seymour’s women is officially over after their loss to competition newcomer Albury in the Country Basketball League north-east division on Saturday.
The Blasters started strongly, with Tayha Watkins and Jade McLay attacking the basket to give their team an early lead.
But Albury’s harassing defence took its toll, with guards Kijana and Aleira McCowan pressuring Seymour’s inbound passes to create turnovers and easy scores.
Albury’s dominance became a family affair, with a third McCowan, Jade, leading the Cougars’ comeback through a combination of savvy passing and timely shot-making.
While Watkins made back-to-back three-pointers in the second half to keep Seymour in touch, Albury’s deeper bench saw the visitors run away with fresher legs, and centre Jade Crook started to dominate down low.
In a positive for Seymour, every player scored, with Watkins and Jasmine Hunter finishing with 14 apiece, while McLay had 13.
For Albury, Crook led with 26 points, Jade McCowan had 20, Aleira McCowan finished with 15 and Kijana McCowan had 10.
The Cougars will take on the powerhouse Wodonga Lady Wolves in the grand final after their 23-point victory against Wallan.
While Wallan did its utmost to curb the scoring of Wodonga’s Rachel Jeffery and Stacey Browne, the Panthers struggled to generate their own offence.
Only forward Carley Cranston, with 16 points, reached double figures for the Panthers, with Ruby Pantisano, 6, Melissa Buckley and Katarina Kekez, 5 apiece, held quiet.
