Posted on 18 April, 2011
Friday night saw the Swinburne Cobras take on the unbeaten North West Tasmania, with Kilsyth fresh from a week’s break the game was set to be a tight hard fought contest. Hugh McMenamin Court was packed to see the Swinburne Cobras first home game, unfortunately for the large crowd they were unable to pull Kilsyth over the line with the Swinburne Cobras going down by three points.
The first quarter saw NW Tasmania (56.3% FG) take a three point lead after some great shooting from the field, with the second quarter being much the same. The Swinburne Cobras had their chances but could not get the baskets to drop, which allowed the Thunder to make them pay at the other end – NW Tasmania took a nine point lead into half time.
After a slow start Kilsyth could ill afford another off quarter and the crowd started to see what they had come for; the Swinburne Cobras made all the running but could not make NW Tasmania pay, only able to reduce the half time deficit by one point.
With a huge week in front of them Kilsyth knew that they needed to fight out the game and try and steal the win, finally the baskets started dropping and NW Tasmania’s lead began to dissipate. With just over two minutes left on the clock the scores were all tied up and the Swinburne Cobras looked to have all the running; however NW Tasmania’s Shawntes Gary (28pts) had other ideas and made an NBA like three to give the Thunder the lead. Kilsyth tried hard but unlike NW Tasmania could not get the score on the board going down by three.
Auryn MacMillan (20pts, 11rbds, and 4 steals) was the Club Kilsyth MVP for Kilsyth after a game that saw him end up with a black eye; Captain Quincy Henderson (17pts) and Tariq Naqqash (17pts) were the other notable scorers for Kilsyth.
The Swinburne Kilsyth Cobras then travelled to Bendigo on Sunday to take on 2010 East Conference Champions the Bendigo Braves, after Friday night’s disappointing loss the boys knew that they needed to win. Unfortunately, like Friday night’s game the Swinburne Cobras left it too late and again went down by three points.
The first half saw an even contest with both teams having opportunities to score, however like Friday night against NW Tasmania, Kilsyth (35% FG) had trouble getting the baskets to drop. The Braves (47% FG) made sure they took full advantage and took a 12 point lead going into half time.
The third quarter saw the Braves put a stranglehold on the Swinburne Cobras out scoring and outplaying them to extend their 12 point half time lead to 25 points going into the last change.
Staring down the barrel of another defeat Kilsyth knew they had to lift, and lift they did. After only managing 35 points for the first three quarters they shot accurately and scored 36 points in the last. The Swinburne Cobras finally started to gel, making all the plays, everything was pointing to a huge come from behind victory.
It appeared that Bendigo, who had played the night before, were out on their legs and with only ten seconds left on the clock, a three point deficit and the ball with Kilsyth everything was pointing to overtime. However it was not to be with Matt O’Hea and Quincy Henderson three point attempts just missing.
Quincy Henderson (14pts, 11rbds, 2 blocks and 2 ass) threw everything he had at the contest and tried to pull his team across the line unfortunately there just wasn’t enough time. The Swinburne Cobras now sit with a 1/3 win loss record and must back up again this Wednesday night to take on last year’s National Champions the Geelong Supercats.
The Swinburne Kilsyth Cobras take on the Geelong Supercats this Wednesday April 20 – Tip Off is 7:30pm on Hugh McMenamin Court.
