THE Swan Hill Flyers secured their first points of the 2024 CBL North West season on Sunday, with the men’s team defeating the Kyneton Tigers on the road by 17 points.
After a slow start, which saw Swan Hill trailing by nine points just four minutes into the first term, the Flyers dominated the second half, outscoring the home side 56-36 after the main break on their way to a comfortable 91-74 victory.
The win keeps Swan Hill’s finals hopes well and truly alive after beginning their double header weekend with a 33-point loss to the Bendigo Braves on Saturday evening.
After missing the loss to the Braves, Lachlan Gardner returned to lead all scorers for the Flyers against Kyneton, posting 26 points, while Lachlan Somerville (23 points) and Matthew Gardner (21 points) were also key contributors in the win.
Swan Hill men’s coach Hugh Broad was full of praise for his players characters after the come from behind victory, especially the performances of his big three.
“It was a game we just had to win, we knew they (Kyneton) would be a tough test as they had a lot of new players and a few guys from Ballarat, but it was a game that we just had to win after going down to Bendigo the night before,” Broad told The Guardian post-match.
“Lachie Gardner had a huge impact for us on Sunday and he just made such a big difference having another bigger body in there.
“Matty Gardner and Lachie Somerville were back to their best too, but we were moving the ball around as a team and attacking the rim which was probably the difference.
“We had pretty high energy, even when we were down, and we knew that if we just played with a little bit more intent than we did in the first quarter we’d be ok.”
It was a much-improved performance for the Flyers from 24 hours earlier, after Swan Hill were beaten by a very accomplished Bendigo Braves 108-75.
Broad led the way with a game high 21-points for the match, while Somerville was also strong scoring 18 points, with Bendigo opening up a 21-point lead at half time before running away with the match in the second half.
“We lost the Bendigo game on the three-point line, the total shots they made from outside ended up being the final margin,” Broad said.
“They (Bendigo) just kept shooting and making them, they picked us off really early and ran a full court press and scored a lot of points on transition.
“We adjusted that at half-time and brought our bigger bodies up to help out, which they did and cut their press off really well, but then they continued to shoot.
“They’re a great team, they train all year round, but the winning margin was from them just making their three-point shots.”
It was a less successful weekend for Swan Hill women’s team, with the Flyers travelling home from their double header weekend empty handed.
A 54-point loss to a Bendigo team that contained three NBL1 players preceded a 32-point loss to Kyneton on Sunday to give the Flyers a 0-3 start to the season.
With one of the youngest squads in the CBL North West division, Swan Hill coach Adam Kerr was upbeat about his team’s effort after their 88-56 loss to the Tigers, with the Flyers competing for the full four quarters against a more experienced and physical opponent.
“Our effort and intensity was really good today, as it was last night in the second half,” Kerr said.
“Today for four quarters, I thought our effort was great, we were a bit unlucky early on in that we found ourselves in foul trouble, but everyone really stood up after that.
“The three games we’ve played so far this season, we’ve been the younger team and we are one of the youngest in the competition without question.
“We have four 14-year olds in our squad, a couple of 16-year old’s, an 18-year old and then a handful of older girls and we’re playing against teams that are all in their mid to late 20’s.
“So we’re up against it most weeks, but our girls aren’t showing any fear, they’re going out there and having a crack despite the age gap and the difference in size and strength.
“Both games this weekend were really physical, but we’re trying to develop a culture where we compete as hard as we can, we support each other and play for one another and we just want to play in the right way and be seen as good hard competitors.
“Our leaders like Tess (Denham), Karla (Allen), Shaylea (Kerr) and Tamara (Weiss) are leading the way for the younger girls and showing them the way we want to play in the future so that they can follow suit.
Allen lead the way for the Flyers on Sunday, shooting 16 points, including two three pointers, with Tess Denham top scoring for Swan Hill on Saturday evening against the Braves with 13 points.
