Travelling up Hume Hwy to Wodonga Sports and Leisure Centre, a loss on the road would have seen the Blasters’ season left hanging by a thread.
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But a strong start in the opening term, with Seymour scoring 37 to Wodonga’s 16, meant the Blasters steered the ship towards their second win of the season.
“We started off well in that first quarter which set the tone for the rest of game,” Seymour coach Craig Hockley said.
“We really played up the floor, our defence was good and created turnovers, and we were able to get fast break points.”
Seymour returned to the court in control of the second and third quarters, though Wodonga found more opportunities in attack.
But it was the final 10 minutes where Blasters unleashed their full force upon the Wolves, extending their three-quarter-time lead from 29 to 40 ahead of the final siren.
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Seymour’s attack again proved on point, with Jack Murphy (26 points), Robbie Sartori (21) and Zac Wight (16) leading the charge, though it was the team’s defensive stocks in converting those points that impressed Hockley the most.
“Just with the turnovers and rebounds, there were a lot of easy points,” Hockley said.
“Tom O’Connor dominated the boards which allowed us to score down the other end.
“Zac Wight again played well, and Tyler Best also did a good job.”
Seymour will travel to Benalla this Saturday night to face the Breakers, in the hope of replicating their 29-point round two victory over the same team.
But Hockley is under no illusions it will be an easy win over Benalla, which won its first ever match in the competition in round four.
“Playing [Benalla] for a second time around, they’ll be better off than last time and better prepared for us,” Hockley said.
“We’ll be looking to work in a new offence, and again making sure we’re playing good defence, which has been our focus for the last three or four weeks.”
One of the key match-ups Seymour will look to get just right, is who to send against Benalla tall Lachy Kego, who ranks third in the competition for points scored so far this season.
“We have multiple choices to go tall on him,” Hockley said.
“Tom [O’Connor] is a bigger body, or if we go more athletic, we’ve got Gavin Whitfort. And there is Zac Wight as well.”
Final score: Seymour Blasters 113 d Wodonga Wolves 73
Top scorers: Jack Murphy 26, Robbie Sartori 21
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