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Tue

Jun 27, 2023

Bendigo refining its game in finals lead-up

Anthony Radford

“Every game is a tough game, but this weekend we really wanted to sharpen the axe a little bit,”

The Champions IGA Bendigo Braves Women came away with two comprehensive wins over the weekend, to extend their unbeaten run to 17 and fire yet another warning shot at NBL1 South finals rivals.

Hosting the Melbourne Tigers at Red Energy Arena, a slow start saw Bendigo up 14-13 with 2.40 left in the first quarter. Then they turned it on, going into quarter time with a 27-15 lead on the back of quality outside shooting.

Bendigo’s dominance continued in the second, with a 12-0 run and strong ball pressure putting them up by 20 at half time.

From there it was straight forward for Bendigo. A 13-2 run to start the third term and a fast start to the last saw the lead reach as much as 41, the Braves running out winners 89-51.

Four Bendigo players hit double figures – Megan McKay 20 points and 12 rebounds, Kelly Wilson 19 points and 14 assists, Kasey Burton 16 points, and Cassidy McLean 11.

The game was also a great chance for Bendigo’s bench to get some vital minutes ahead of the finals.

The Braves travelled to Keilor on Sunday and recorded another impressive win. Leading 20-11 at quarter time meant the Thunder was trying to play catchup for the rest of the game.

Whatever Keilor threw at Bendigo, coach Mark Alabakov and his team had it covered, winning 72-54.

McKay dominated inside with the astonishing stats of 26 points and 21 rebounds from only 28 minutes playing time.

McLean ended the game with 15 points and Burton 14.

Alabakov said the weekend was a good opportunity for some fine tuning.

“Every game is a tough game, but this weekend we really wanted to sharpen the axe a little bit,” he said.

“We have that comfort of already qualifying for the finals, so we have a few games to get everything in order.

“We are really focusing on perfecting the single things that make up about 80 per cent of the game and simplifying the automatics of our offensive system.”

Alabakov was also happy with the court time of his young stars over the weekend.

“Players such as Caitlin Richardson, Meg McCarthy, Poppy Blanche, Millie Wicks, Jess Rennie, and Izzy Whitelaw will all have important roles over the next couple of months, so it’s good to get them out there,” he said.

“We know from now on we have a bullseye on our back and we are always going to get every other team’s best shot.

“We have to be ready for that and be prepared to do the hard yards to cope with the physicality, which is something we have done well so far.”

Photo - Craig Dilks Photography

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