Posted on 25 May, 2011

This weekend the Swinburne Kilsyth Lady Cobras (6-1) travel to Tasmania to take on the Hobart Lady Chargers (2-8) on Friday night, and then back up on Saturday night to face the Launceston Tornadoes (5-2).

It was only 2 weeks ago when the Swinburne Lady Cobras defeated Hobart at home, 63-49. The result was never really in doubt but the Lady Chargers would not go away. Last weekend saw Hobart split the weekend with a 13 point win over Sandringham and then a disappointing 18 point loss to Ballarat.

The Swinburne Lady Cobras on the other hand showed the rest of the competition that they are the real deal defeating the 2010 SEABL Champions and previously undefeated Dandenong Lady Rangers by 12 points. Even though the Lady Rangers did their best to work over Abby Bishop she top scored with 17 points as well as acquiring 15 rebounds and helped to seal the win for Kilsyth, Eva Afeaki (14pts, 7rbds, 8bl) had another blinder and is proving to be one of the toughest competitors going around in SEABL 2011.

If the Swinburne Lady Cobras play like they did against Dandenong last Saturday they shouldn’t have any trouble against the Lady Chargers. The game that will really test Kilsyth will be Launceston on the Saturday night; the tornadoes are just behind Kilsyth and Dandenong on the ladder with five wins for the season after defeating a struggling Brisbane Lady Spartans, 70-62.

Billed as SEABL game of the week Kilsyth vs. Launceston will most certainly be a tough and enthralling contest, Launceston have two standouts so far this year with Mia Newly (18.7ppg, 9.1rpg) and Nicole Hunt (18ppg, 5.9rpg, 4.1apg) dominating the scoring. Kilsyth will need to shut down both the crowd and these two girls down to come away with the win.

Head Coach Cheryl Chambers must be impressed with her side’s ability to share the load with Gemma Kerr (9.9ppg), Hayley Moffatt (10ppg, 4.9rpg), Chantella Perera (9.1ppg, 4.3rpg) and Eva Afeaki (11.1ppg, 8.6rpg, 3.1apg) all having impressive seasons thus far. Throw in a ready-made star in Abby Bishop (15.5ppg, 10.2rpg, 2apg) and anyone can see why teams have to be at their best defeat the Swinburne Lady Cobras.

If the Swinburne Lady Cobras win both matches they will overtake Dandenong on the ladder, it’s a huge road trip but one which can really set up the rest of the season for Kilsyth.

The Swinburne Lady Cobras tip off against the Hobart Lady Chargers at 6:00pm Friday May 27 at Aurora Stadium. They then tip off at 7:30pm against the Launceston Lady Tornadoes at Launceston Stadium.

Kilsyth Basketball is hosting the 2011 Under 16 National Championships this July. Volunteer and Business opportunities are available email megan.martin@kilsythbasketball.com.au for further information.