McCarthy Gold faced off against Oxley Vipers in the A grade semi for the 7/8 girls on Wednesday night, with the Vipers chalking up an 58-33 win.
Both teams have had a successful season finishing in the top three on the ladder, but this game would end the season for one.
Both teams have had a successful season finishing in the top three on the ladder, but this game would end the season for one.
McCarthy took an early lead with Bree Luckey sinking their first basket followed up by Mia Kennedy with a lovely three-pointer.
Luckey continued scoring with two more before Ellie Highlands made her mark.
Luckey added another for McCarthy and Kennedy found the sweet spot scoring two fouls and an additional two two-pointers.
Zhara Hudson put first points for Oxley on the board with one of her foul shots and Zali Humble sunk a two.
Hudson and Humble repeated these efforts and Josette Humble put her own two on the scoreboard before Hudson weighed in again with three in a row.
Hudson potted her first two of the game as The Vipers started to put points on the board and the Vipers took the lead on the scoreboard for the first time.
The half-time siren sounded with McCarthy on 19 and Oxley on 23.
It was hot out at the Dome and the ladies on both teams had to cope with this, no reserves and Oxley had the additional struggle of only four players.
None of these factors seemed to have any bearing as all players gave an energetic and fast paced game with rigorous defensive moves.
Energetic defence made the tide turn for the Vipers when the player gained at half time took them to five players whilst McCarthy lost a player to fouls reducing them to four players.
Oxley made the most of their unexpected advantage as Arianna Klein, Zali Humble, Josi Humble and Zhara Hudson lined up to add points.
Josi Humble backed herself to add another nine points as did Zali with 12 and Klein and Hudson with two points each.
Not to be outdone, Marnie Currey-Steadman added her name to the scoreboard in the dying minutes of the game.
Bree Luckey again scored first points for McCarthy and Mia Kennedy again added a three, mirroring the start of the game.
Kennedy was able to add another seven points to the score and Ellie Highlands sunk a two but this pulled up the Gold team’s scoring.
The team didn’t give up, but the combination of heat and strenuous defence seemed to weigh the players down and drain energies.
Both teams played surprisingly vibrant games under difficult conditions and their efforts were appreciated.
