West Gambier got off to its usual flying start at the weekend and despite missing ill star goal attack Lisa McGregor scored prolifically to bolt to a 13 goal quarter time lead against South Gambier.
Gracie Peterson stepped into the role and not only connected seamlessly with shooter Sarah Ritter but also scored with great accuracy herself, netting 17 from 21 in the opening half as she used her pace and well timed front cuts to great effect.
South, too, had its challenges in the shooting circle, with both goal attacks Gracie Dalton, sidelined with an ankle injury, and Megan Reid unavailable.
The Demons solved the issue by relocating star defender Ellie Bouchier to the shooting circle, with Sophie Wight teaming with Mykaela Thiele at the defensive end.
Bouchier’s long range delivery to Ash Widdison was a highlight and the young gun also netted her share of shots, with South reaching the 50 goal mark for a rare time this season, especially against a top ranked team.
In the end, West secured a comfortable 29 goal victory, with Mikaela Horrigan and Amy Cram providing plenty of disruption, while Jess Holmes and Tara Bryant ensured there was plenty of speed on the ball in transition as they connected with Peterson and Ritter.
Bouchier and Tully McShane were best for the Demons.
EAST GAMBIER V MILLICENT
East Gambier will enter this weekend’s elimination semi final against Millicent with a fair degree of confidence after pushing the Saints for three quarters before the scoreline blew out.
It was level at quarter time, four at half time, three at three quarter time before Millicent put the foot down to win the last quarter by 10 and secure the 54-41 victory.
Playing without on court leader Lisa Duldig, the Saints’ young defence of Portia McRae, Lauren Van Eeden and Edie Easterby did make life tough for the East frontline and it was really only the third quarter, when Malinda Foster netted 13 from 14, they kept the scoring under control.
The East defence certainly tested the Saints attacking line but the work rate of Daisy Tunkin and Lillie Paul to connect with Demi Verbena and Nikeisha Facey ensured the Saints scoreboard kept ticking over.
Facey had a particularly strong second half, converting 24 from 26, while Easterby’s ability to create turnover ball proved critical in the final wash up.
As it has been so often this season, the accuracy of Foster and Renee Henke kept the Bulldogs in the contest, making the most of limited scoring opportunities, while Bo Creek was a key in creating turnover ball.
The two will now face again this weekend in a do or die contest to keep their respective seasons alive.
NORTH GAMBIER V CASTERTON SANDFORD
North Gambier clearly wanted to finish the home and away season with an emphatic victory and that is exactly what they achieved
after a blistering opening
quarter set the tone for the Tigers’ clash with Casterton Sandford.
The 22-6 opening quarter was built on defensive pressure from Lauran Norma, Stella Mobbs and Mel Renko and then classy finishing from Kelly Lockwood and Macey Griffith, who converted 22 from 23 in a stunning display.
To the Cats’ credit, they regrouped quickly, starting with a concerted effort defensively in the second quarter.
They only gave up 14 scoring opportunities in the second with some tighter checking from Ebany Jarrad and Caeleigh Humphries and a full court effort that saw the Tigers’ ball movement slowed down.
That defensive effort resulted in better looks for their own scoring and the 16 goal lead was only extended to 21 by the half.
North upped the ante themselves in the second half, though, with the hard running of Kaitlin Egan and Brianna Walters seeing great connection between the hard-working defenders and shooting circle and the lead steadily grew to the final margin of 45.
Speaking of hard running, Cats centre Indi Longhurst was again her side’s best, while Jarrad battled hard to try and prevent the scoreboard from ticking over so regularly.
Egan and Renko were named best players for the dominant Tigers line-up.
