Seymour Blasters lock up finals spots

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For a second year in a row, Seymour will head into this weekend’s CBL North East semi-finals eyeing a spot in both the men’s and women’s deciders.

A dominant 20-point victory over Wallan on Saturday night saw Seymour’s men finish their regular season undefeated, with the added bonus of knocking reigning champ Wallan out of finals contention.

With the local team missing three weeks of basketball due to various COVID-19 issues across the state, Blasters coach Craig Hockley said he was pleased with his team’s efforts after its lay-off.

“We started a bit rusty in that first quarter, which is to be expected,” Hockley said.

“But our second and third quarters were really good. We started to click again and the offence started to flow as the game went on.”

After an ordinary first half, Tyler Best came alive in the second to score a game-high 21 points for the Blasters, with Jordan Hockley also locked in to net 17 points, including nine from long range.

Seymour has earned itself a home semi-final this weekend and should head in heavy favourite against fourth-placed Wodonga after comfortably knocking off the Wolves by 32 points back in round one.

Despite having history in its favour, Hockley said his team would not go in underestimating the Wolves.

“That was both our first games and the Wolves have improved since then, so we cannot take them for granted,” Hockley said.

“It’ll start from the defensive end. We’ll be making sure we are honing in on their offence with our defensive pressure and making them work for every basket.”

The Lady Blasters will also feature in semi-final action on Saturday night, locking up third spot after the circuit-breaker lockdown saw all round six games cancelled.

In what is always a tough assignment, Seymour will hit the road to face Wallan.

It will be the second time the two sides have met this year, with the Panthers getting on top of the Blasters by 11 points just three weeks ago.

● In the men’s conference, Seymour Blasters host Wodonga at Seymour Sports and Aquatic Centre from 7 pm on Saturday night, while Seymour’s women also tip off against Wallan from 7 pm at R.B. Robson Stadium.

● For more on Seymour Blasters’ efforts at the 2021 Junior Country Championships, turn to page 27.