THE Swan Hill Flyers men’s team got their season off to a dream start under new coach Steven Bowden, with a dominant 47-point victory on Sunday over the Kyneton Tigers.
While the men’s team put forward a flawless display at home to open their account, the same unfortunately couldn’t be said for the Lady Flyers who, despite a spirited first half, fell away after the main break to go down by 36 points.
After a tough opening quarter, the men put the Tigers to the sword in the second, going on a scoring rampage with a 32-10 term seeing them open up a 28-point lead and effectively end the contest.
The Flyers didn’t take their foot off the pedal after the break, again dominating in every facet of the game with a 29-15 term, before cruising to the finish line and bringing up triple figures in the shadows of the full-time buzzer, winning 103-56.
Five Flyers posted double figures, with Bowden leading the way with 25, while new recruit Lachlan Somerville was dominant from long range, dropping five-three pointers on his way to 21 points in an impressive display.
Not to be outdone, Lachlan Gardner (16 points), Matthew Gardner (13 points) and Samuel Bull (11 points) also impacted on the scoreboard, with the Flyers now finding themselves second on the Country Basketball League ladder after the opening round.
Earlier in the afternoon it was the Lady Flyers who opened proceedings, going down to Kyneton 39-75.
It wasn’t all bad for Swan Hill, with the young Flyers matching it with their more senior and experienced rivals for much of the first half.
After trailing by just two points at quarter time, the Flyers were able to run with the Lady Tigers for large periods of the second quarter, but at times just lacked the polish and ability to finish off their good work in their attacking half of the court.
Trailing 25-34 at the main break, the Lady Tigers then got on top of Swan Hill, putting the game to bed with a 4-18 third quarter, before repeating the dose in the last 10-23 as the young and inexperienced Flyers ran out of legs – giving Kyneton a comfortable victory.
For Swan Hill, their captain Tess Denham led the way both on the score sheet and in her attack on the ball, posting a team high 14 points for the match, including three three-pointers – with Zoe Morris the next best for the Flyers with six points.
The Flyers will once again play host next weekend – this time to the Melton Thoroughbreds, with tip off for the Lady Flyers at 3pm and the men’s game to follow at 5pm.
