Going up strong: Seymour’s Jack Murphy.
Photo by
Wayne Herring
Seymour Blasters will embark on a historic weekend, with both its men’s and women’s teams set to play off for the Country Basketball North East Division title.
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This comes after a successful semi-final night at the Seymour Sports and Aquatic Centre on Saturday, when the women prevailed 62-56 in a thriller over Myrtleford, before the men hit the court and produced a dominant 73-53 win over Wodonga.
For the girls, Leah Swain and Maddison Ford were the standouts, dropping 22 and 16 points respectively as they held off a fast Saints finish to book their place in the decider against Wallan.
Nice form: Seymour’s Tom O’Connor
Photo by
Wayne Herring
Holding the lead from start to finish, the Blasters will head into their grand final clash full of confidence as they face a Panthers side which punched their ticket to the big dance due to a forfeit by Wodonga.
The men, on the other hand, continued their dominant season with a clinical 20-point dismantling of Wodonga.
In what was an evenly spread performance across the roster, Keenan Gorski (17 points), Jack Murphy (13 points), Tyler Best (13 points) and Thomas O’Connor (12 points) all made valuable contributions as the Blasters’ talent proved too much for the gallant Wolves.
Pushing the pace: Seymour’s Robbie Sartori.
Photo by
Wayne Herring
Seymour led all the way and was particularly impressive in the second quarter, outscoring Wallan 22-7 in a period that all but sealed the dominant triumph.
It will now face Benalla Breakers in the season decider.
With grand final day now looming, Lady Blasters coach Bill Pearce said having two sides in the decider was a major coup for the club.
“It is absolutely terrific for the club,” Pearce said.
“It has been an interesting year with COVID-19 and things, so congratulations are definitely in order to Basketball Victoria for firstly getting a season up and running but then also being able to complete it.
Finding an option: Seymour’s Shona Gesler.
Photo by
Wayne Herring
“This is the women’s third time in the grand final and we haven’t been lucky enough to win one yet, while the men have a fantastic record winning the last few titles in a row, so from our point of view it is just a fantastic effort from all involved to get this far and we cannot wait to put on a show this weekend.”
With question marks surrounding whether Seymour would get a girls’ team up for this season, Pearce said the willingness of the girls to come together and really commit to the cause had been exemplary.
Handles: Seymour’s Maddison Ford.
Photo by
Wayne Herring
“From our point of view, it really has been a ‘we’ effort this year," he said.
“At the start of the season there was talk we may not get a girls’ side. It wasn’t until the girls came together themselves and approached me to coach that we got it off the ground.
“We had a really big focus on the culture of the group and that has really showed in our performances. We have a very even contribution among all our players where everyone brings something different to the squad.
“It really has been wonderful to watch from the sidelines.”
The Blasters show will go on the road for grand final night, with the girls kicking off at 5.30pm and the men at 8pm at R.B. Robson Wallan Indoor Sports Stadium.
Pearce urged as many Seymour fans as possible to get down and support the teams on their quest for grand final glory.
“We would just love any support from the community. If people made the effort to get out to Wallan, we would really appreciate it and it would make the world of difference for us,” he said.
“We have achieved something pretty special this year and we’d love to share the night with as many fans as possible.”
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