By Ben Turner
IT was a mixed bag of results for the Kilsyth Cobras on the weekend as the ladies took the crown in a close contest with the Sandringham Sabres.
But it was a different story for the men, going down to the Geelong Supercats.
For the Lady Cobras it was a much-needed nine-point 74 to 65 win.
Import Amy Denson led all scorers with 22 points and she pulled in 10 rebounds to record her fifth double-double in six games.
The Cobras went into the game as slight favourites over the winless Sabres despite their signing of Australian Opal Natalie Porter during the week. Porter (12 points, 11 rebounds) struggled to find any rhythm at the offensive end shooting just 5/17 from the field.
But the Cobras, having something to prove, jumped out of the blocks in the opening term racing to an 18-11 quarter-time lead.
Sandringham regrouped in the second quarter as Chantella Perera (16pts) found her range from behind the three-point arc.
The Sabres pulled back the margin to just a single point at the main break with some good shooting.
Kilsyth responded in the third, holding the Sabres to 14 points for the quarter and rattling off 25 of their own to extend the lead to 12 at the final break.
Meanwhile, the men came agonisingly close to taking the win but fell short 100-96 against the Supercats. The story of the night was the free throws, while Geelong with 6/6 in the dying minutes, Kilsyth could only managed 1/6 as another close game slipped from their control.
Joe Werner (19pts, 12rbds) was a stand-out for the Cobras but an even-scoring display was a positive for the team.
In a game of scoring swings Geelong shot out of the blocks early shooting at a high percentage from behind the arc.
With the game looking over, Matt Shanahan scored nine points in the final six minutes of the quarter and helped the Cobras build a lead towards the end of the term.
Chris Cameron had six points in two minutes and the Cobras had a sniff. With both teams in the bonus it became a battle from the free throws. Geelong nailed the shots when it counted and went on to record their sixth win of the season. For the Cobras the loss drops them to 4-5 with eight games in the next month.