Win or stay home: Supercats poised for preliminary final

GEELONG United’s road to the NBL1 South Grand Final requires one more hurdle to be cleared, but it took an extra five minutes of game time to overcome this weekend’s opponents last time out.

The Supercats endured overtime to defeat the Waverley Falcons, 66-75, in Round 14 just three weeks ago to ultimately take the second seed in the standings.

Supercats guard and Geelong local Eve Braslis said the squad was fully aware of the stakes involved in the clash against the Falcons at Geelong Arena tonight (Saturday, August 5) at 7pm.

“There is a reason we finished so high on the ladder this season and that is because we remained consistent throughout the year.

“We have played our game and we haven’t tried to do anything too special, everyone knows their role and we’ve been executing well in our roles all season.

“Saturday won’t be any different, it’s just one more game until we compete for what this season has been all about, a championship.”

Waverley defeated Eltham in the second semi-final last Sunday, 80-57, to book a berth in the preliminary finals.

Falcons guard Maddi Utti amassed a team-high 18 points, while WNBL talents Carley Ernst (16 points and eight rebounds) and Bec Cole (10 points, eight assists, and six rebounds) contributed their regular impact on the scoreline for Waverley.

United earned a week off following its qualifying final win over Mount Gambier a fortnight ago.

Braslis said Saturday’s clash promises to involve several exciting matchups, with two potent rosters going head-to-head.

“Looking back on our last game against Waverley, it was a scrappy affair, both sides were tired, we were wrapping up a stint of four-straight double-headers, there were mistakes made, so to face them in a final with higher stakes is going to be very interesting.

“They have a couple of very good individuals at their disposal who we know can shoot the ball and get to the rim really well, just really solid players.

“Both teams have a lot of height, so that will provide an exciting game in terms of matchups and it’s actually really exciting.”

“We had a really strong gameplan against them last time out, so I imagine we’ll employ a similar plan of attack on this occasion as well.”

The Supercats have no reported injuries heading into the weekend and will be at full match fitness with the added buffer of a week off.

The winner of Saturday’s preliminary final will meet either Bendigo or Mount Gambier in the NBL1 South Grand Final at the State Basketball Centre on Saturday, August 12.

Head to geelongunitedbasketball.com.au to purchase tickets.