Posted on 24 March, 2017

After a rough outing on Saturday night against Melbourne, the Cobra Women bounced-back in style on Sunday, riding a strong opening half performance to down Waverley, 65-54. Brett Spicer’s Women put the clamps on defensively early on, limiting the Falcons to just 24 points over the opening 20 minutes of play as they took an 18 point lead into halftime.

While their offence cooled during the second half, Kilsyth held on strong defensively as they cruised to their first victory of the 2017 season.

The Cobras were led by a pair of familiar faces, with Taylah Black and Brooke McGurgan dominating on both ends of the floor. Black scored a team-high 18 points and pulled down seven rebounds, while McGurgan stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, a game-high 16 rebounds and four assists in the win.

Kilsyth will look to make it two in a row this this Sunday when they play host to Ringwood. A talented Hawks team will be looking to recover from a big loss against Melbourne last weekend, and return to the form that has made them perennial playoff contenders. With Ringwood possessing a handful of experienced, quality players, the Cobras will need to lean on some experience of their own – McGurgan, Black and Sarah Haberfield – if they they hope to take down their cross-town rival.

The Cobra Men sent a message to the rest of the league on Sunday, putting on an offensive clinic to blow out Waverley, 106-62. Kilsyth shot 51% from the field for the game while limiting the Falcons to just 28% shooting to help boost their record to 2-1 on the season.

Jamie Ahale once again led the way for the Cobras, scoring a game-high 22 points – on 9/15 shooting – to go along with 10 rebounds, while Mitch Dielemans (15 points, four assists), Zac Wuersching (14 points, six rebounds, four assists), and Jorden Adnam (14 points, eight rebounds, three assists) were key in the win.

While the Cobras starters were firing on full cylinders, the second unit was just as productive, with the Kilsyth bench contributing 36 points. With depth an issue last season for Mark Landell’s Men, Kilsyth’s reserves have stepped up in a big way in the early going of 2017. Now able to go 12-deep, the Cobras appear poised for a return to the postseason and close to re-joining the league’s elite.

After falling agonisingly short of a playoff berth in 2016, the Cobras will look to exact their revenge on Sunday as they host Sandringham, the team bumped them out of the Watson Conference’s final playoff spot last season. With the Sabres possessing good size and length, the Cobras will be challenged on their home court, but if the likes of Ahale, Dielemans, Adnam, and Wuersching can continue their strong play of late, Kilsyth should be well positioned to win their second consecutive game at home.

The Cobra Women tip-off Sunday’s proceedings at 12.30pm, with the Men to follow at 2.30pm.