THE Swan Hill Flyers will be aiming to begin the biggest weekend on the local basketball calendar with a bang when the senior men’s and women’s teams host the Mildura Heat in a Friday night blockbuster.
Both the men’s and women’s sides will go into the encounters full of confidence after victories last weekend, with the men’s team sitting fourth on the CBL North West ladder.
Mildura always provide a stern test however, and with both the Flyers and Heat entering the men’s match with two wins apiece, a win is a must if they are to remain in the top four, according to Swan Hill coach Hugh Broad.
“We’ve gained a bit of confidence from Sunday’s win (against Bacchus Marsh), playing a man down against a really good team and coming away with the win in a tight game, there’s not many more scenarios that would fill a team with confidence like that,” Broad told The Guardian this week.
“Our training has been good and there’s a really good feeling around the squad and I genuinely feel Sunday’s result has given us the impetuous to go from a team who wants to have a couple of wins to a team that competes and wants to play finals.
“That was our goal at the start of the season and with that win on Sunday, we’ve formed a bit of belief that we are good enough to compete against anyone in the league.”
With a big crowd expected ahead of the club’s junior tournament, Broad is expecting a competitive game from the Heat, who won both games last season against the Flyers on their way to defeating the Bendigo Braves in last year’s grand final.
“We love playing against Mildura, they are always competitive and we respect them, they play all year round which we don’t do, but it’s competitive every time we play them,” Broad said.
“They have a youthful team, so we’re expecting a fair bit of energy from them and we need to match that energy from the start, like we did on Sunday (against Bacchus Marsh).
“They have some taller players that score well also, so our bigger bodies will have to do a fair bit of work, but in saying that, we’re more focused on our team and what we can contribute at the moment.
“We have the potential to be one of the strongest teams in the competition and the more that we focus on what we can do better as a team, the better we are.
“Our pre-game chat has shifted from worrying about the opposition to worrying about us, our focus is on us, our energy, our effort and while we’re expecting Mildura to be good, I know we can be better.”
Broad will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury, which will place pressure on the Flyers leaders Lachlan Somerville, Lachlan Gardner and Matthew Gardner to continue their strong early season form.
The women’s team will also face a stern test against the Heat, with their young squad expected to have their minutes managed ahead of a big weekend of basketball in the Flyers junior programs.
Having secured their first win of the season last Saturday night against Macedon Ranges, the Flyers will be aiming to bring plenty of energy, intensity and speed to this Friday night’s contest according to coach Adam Kerr.
“Given our senior squad is built up of a lot of juniors, it will be a bit of an effort to try and manage them on Friday night, but they’re all still keen to be involved and they’ve all brought in to playing for the CBL team,” Kerr said.
“It will be a little bit different, but the energy around the group is really good at the moment.
“We couldn’t ask for more from the playing group, they give everything and there’s a couple of them who are super passionate about playing for the Flyers, whether it’s in their age group or in the CBL, they get involved in everything and love putting on the jersey.
“That’s pretty exciting to be a part of because you know they’re always trying their best.”
A focus on the defensive side of the game has seen the Flyers challenge some of the best teams in the CBL North West conference, with Kerr hoping to see more of the same tonight against the Heat.
“We’ve definitely improved on the defensive side of the game, our ability to protect the rim, our boxing out and securing and limiting the oppositions second chance opportunities has gotten better,” Kerr said.
“Our offensive capability has improved as well, but in saying that, we will need to plan for the whole weekend with some of our younger players and manage their court time a bit.
“If we can move the ball a bit quicker, most of our players are capable of scoring, if we can move it quicker we’ll get more opportunities and hopefully we can rack up a few more points.
“Our defence is really improving, it’s just the offensive aspect of the game and if we can get a few more contributors at that end, I think we’ll be fine.”
The Swan Hill Flyers women’s team will host the Mildura Heat from 5.30pm on Friday night at the Swan Hill Basketball Stadium, with the men’s match to follow from 7.30pm.
