It was a day of disappointment for the Swan Hill Flyers on Sunday – with both the men’s and women’s teams falling to the Bacchus Marsh Lions at home in hard-fought affairs.
The women were competitive in a tough, scrappy game of basketball, but ultimately were outclassed, going down to the Lions 56-42 – while the men would be bitterly disappointed not to take away the points after controlling much of the first three quarters, before being overrun in the last period to go down by three points.
Captain and star player Tess Denham missed the women’s match with a knee injury, however it didn’t seem to deter the Flyers in a low scoring first half.
Good defence kept scoring opportunities to a minimum for the first 20 minutes as the Lions took a 21-18 lead into the main break.
It was anyone’s game, and while the Lady Flyers came out hard early in the third quarter, Bacchus Marsh lifted their intensity over the closing minutes of the term, going on an 11-2 run to take a nine-point lead into the final break.
Kelsey McCoy, Tamara Weiss and Zoe Morris all worked hard to try and get the Flyers back into the contest, but every time the home team looked like going on a run, Bacchus Marsh would respond.
The visitors registered a 56-42 victory.
Taylen Blachford was sensational for the Flyers and top-scored with 11 points and was closely followed by Zoe Morris with 10 points.
The men’s fixture was tough and fast paced, with little separating either team in the first quarter.
Taking control in the second, the Flyers outscored to the Lions by seven points to take a 40-32 lead into the break.
Swan Hill showed no signs of slowing down and again outscored their opposition in the third term with Hugh Broad and Matthew Gardner scoring at will.
Just when it looked as though the match was in the Flyers’ keeping however, Bacchus Marsh answered back, both tightening up their defence and taking the game on offensively.
The Lions eventually hit the front late and held on for a three-point victory, 78-75.
For the Flyers, Hugh Broad led the way with 22 points, while Matthew Gardner (18), Lachlan Somerville (11) and Steven Bowden (11) were the other players to register double figure scores.
Both Flyers teams will continue their seasons next weekend, with both teams hitting the road and travelling north to face the Mildura Heat in Mildura, must-win games for both sides.
