Lady Cobras lead the way

By Ben Turner
KILYSTH Cobras had mixed results court-side on the weekend.
The men scored one win and a loss while the lady’s continued their winning streak.
In the first match of the split-round weekend, the Cobras went down to Mt Gambier on the road 102-97 on Friday night, before returning home to destroy Ballarat 97-80 on the back of 45 points and 20 rebounds from Joe Werner.
Werner was unstoppable for the Cobras leading Kilsyth to their eighth win of the season with a career high in scoring. In an amazing second term Werner recorded 22 points, 10 rebounds and three massive dunks to ignite the home crowd.
The game opened up in the second quarter with Werner exploding. Chris Cameron (12 points) and Gerard Leonard (8 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) supported Werner early in the term and by the time Matt Shanahan hit a three to end the half the Cobras led by 23 points.
With 34 points at the break for Werner, it looked like getting ugly for the Miners but to their credit they continued to play hard and outscored the Cobras in the third term to cut the margin to 21.
Jamal Brown (21 points, 15 rebounds) started well in the fourth while B.J. Carter (15 points) and Rishawn Norwood (13 points) also contributed to pull the margin back to just 13 points with about six minutes to play.
After leading by as much as 30 the Cobras were forced to call a timeout to ensure a win.
The win improved the Cobras to 8-9 on the season after they dropped their road game on Friday night to Mt Gambier 102-97.
Leonard (26 points) and Werner (25 points, 9 rebounds) led the Cobras while Quincy Henderson (12 points, 11 rebounds) was also solid but it wasn’t enough against the Pioneers. Kevin Smith (30 points) and Dallas Jefferee (20 points) proved a handful for Kilsyth at the defensive end.
After being in the match all night the Cobras had two crucial turnovers in the final minute of the game, which resulted in dunks for Mt Gambier and handed them the win.
Meanwhile, the reigning SEABL women champions proved they were well and truly back in contention to defend their title after defeating the Brisbane Spartans 65-64.
Brisbane who sat second on the ladder coming into this round of matches defeated the Lady Cobras by 35 points just one month ago in Brisbane and had won their opening two games on their Victorian road trip before the loss to Kilsyth.
The Lady Cobras, following the Brisbane loss, have won six of seven including their last five and with wins over both Brisbane and Bendigo who sit above them, are now well in contention to defend their title.
Coach Jason Knight will be keen to extend this streak with four potential wins before they take on Knox in a massive rivalry game at home on July 4.
The Lady Cobras jumped the Spartans early in this contest to build an early eight-point lead as Brisbane only managed to shoot at 23 per cent from the field in the opening term.
Sarah Parsons (19 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists) and Katy Werner (13 points) starred in the first half with Brisbane struggling to contain the versatile pair. Despite improving their shooting percentage in the second term, the Spartans were only able to cut the Cobras lead by one point.
Amy Denson, (10 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals) despite her off shooting night, was able to contain Holly Smith at the defensive end and found her open team-mates throughout the game.
The third quarter was a low scoring battle for both teams. Brisbane managed to pull back the margin and went into the final quarter down just two points. After a fast start in the fourth the Spartans looked like they were going to run away with the match building a seven-point lead.
Clare Papavs scored five points in two possessions to get the Lady Cobras back in the contest and, after Sarah Parsons and Hayley Moffatt hit big shots down the stretch, Kilsyth were able record the one-point victory and improve to 7-5 on the season strengthening their hold on fourth place.