Surf Coast's finals charge begins

SURF Coast Chargers co-head coach Stef Grayson says her side is confident they can defeat Big V Women Division 2 minor premiers Gippsland United in a best-of-three series, despite coming off second-best in its three previous encounters during the season.

Big V Finals action makes its way to Torquay this Saturday after a long and windy season for the Chargers’ senior women’s side.

Surf Coast will get the privilege of opening its semi-final series against United at Wurdi Baierr Stadium on Saturday at 7pm.

Grayson said the Chargers come into the series in good form following its strong 62-84 win over RMIT Redbacks last weekend, cementing its top four spot and securing its 11th win of the season.

“It was a strong way to end the season, so that gave the girls a really good boost and it was a really enjoyable time out on the court.

“We’ve played Gippsland three times, twice at home and once away, two of those matchups were really close contests, so we’re just going through the basics and refining what has worked well for us all season.

“The challenge for us as coaches is going through the tape, trying to find anything that might give us an extra edge.”

Chargers guard Cortney Hollowood has had an All-First Team campaign in her return to the Surf Coast.

The Chargers will hope to topple a side that lost just once in 2023.

Gippsland United also boasts the best offence in the league, scoring 1739 points over 19 games, 319 points more than the second-highest scoring offence, Blackburn.

“They’re a team that runs really deep with several different options that can take over a game, but we’ve proven we can remain competitive against this side, and we’ll give it 100 per cent effort on Saturday,” Grayson said.

The Chargers will rely on its experienced captains Cortney Hollowood and Jessica Scanell during the series.

Hollowood put together an impressive array of numbers in 2023, ranking second in the competition for points with 21.65 per game and second in assists with 4.82 per game across 36 minutes per contest.

Chargers leader Jessica Scannell has been a force to be reckoned with in 2023.

Scannell, who played more than 35 minutes per game this season, was a top-10 contributor in points (15.5 per game), ranked third in rebounds (11 per game), and fourth in assists (4.19 per game).

Teammate and Chargers tall Kim Hammond led the competition in rebounds with 12.9 board per game.

“We’d love to see the community make its way down to support us this Saturday,” Grayson said.

“The turnaround from last year and to make finals in the program’s second year is a massive achievement for this group.

“We hope to see everyone there.”

Surf Coast will travel to Gippsland for Game 2 and, if necessary, Game 3 next weekend.