Seymour Blasters’ men’s side finished the regular Country Basketball Season, CBL, with a 19-point home game victory over Albury Cougars to secure a spot in the semi-finals.
Seymour started the game strong, taking a seven-point lead at the end of the first quarter, before the Cougars clawed their way back to head into halftime trailing by nine.
Seymour’s Keenan Gorski and Tom O’Connor set a good standard down both ends of the floor keeping the Albury at bay.
The ever-consistent Eden Hobbs was strong towards the basket often catching Cougars defenders off guard in transition, while Zac Donoghue continued to find gaps through defence with passes that opened up Albury’s zone defence.
With both sides adding 12 to the scoreboard – and Albury finding its range around the three-point line – in the third quarter it was truly anyone’s game.
But a strong finish by the Blasters saw them outscore Albury by 10 points to take the win 78 to 59.
Gorski’s 21 points for the Blasters and Hobbs’ 19 were crucial, while at the defensive end, Callum Stojanovic and Ethan Bateman increased the intensity allowing Hobbs to push the ball out in transition and finish.
Seymour captain Jack Murphy said the side knew it was an all or nothing game.
“Win or go home – it was a very simple message for our guys throughout the week. We were under no illusion that our season was sitting on a knifes edge and that we needed to go and grab the opportunity,” Murphy said.
“Albury are always such a tough opponent and most of our games in recent years have been single digit margins.
“We wanted to make a real focus on holding them down defensively and to not let their offensive fire power shine through.
“Keenan Gorski was excellent on the offensive end, as soon as they went to a zone we knew that Keenan was going to get to his spots. Eden Hobbs again pushed hard in transition while Zac Donoghue provided us a cool calm head during times of fatigue.”
The victory secured Seymour fourth place on the ladder, sending them into the semi-final against top-of-the-ladder Benalla Breakers this weekend.
The Breakers have only lost twice this season – once to Seymour in round five and Albury in round seven.
“We now take on the ladder leaders and championship favourites Benalla Breakers on their home floor in an elimination semi-final,” Murphy said.
“The toughest game of the season is ahead of us and again the message during the week will be win or go home.”
Women
Seymour Blasters’ women had a 36-point win over Wodonga Wolves and 30-point win over Albury Cougars in a home game double-header weekend.
Wodonga led by one point at the end of the first quarter before Seymour came out and dominated the second – outscoring the visitors 29 points to six to lead by 22 points at halftime.
After the break, Wodonga started to make some comeback movement but the second quarter domination and consistency in the second half kept the Blasters ahead to win 98 to 62.
On Sunday, the Blasters dominated the Cougars in the first quarter to lead 20 to three with the momentum carrying through the game.
Despite outscoring Seymour in the fourth quarter, the Cougars could not come back, going down 42 to 72.
Seymour finished top of the ladder and go through to the semi-finals against fourth-placed Shepparton Gators.
