By SARAH SCULLY

The Horsham Lady Hornets will join their male counterparts in the 2019-20 Country Basketball League finals series after a thrilling victory over Geelong United on Saturday night.

The do-or-die clash was hard fought by both sides as they looked to secure the south-west conference’s last finals spot.

The Lady Hornets saved their best game of the season for when it counted, claiming a 22-point victory, 75-53.

Coach Tony Sleep was elated with the win, labelling his charges ‘incredible’.

“If someone had said we were going to win by that much I wouldn’t have believed them,” he said.

“I’m certainly not saying it wasn’t tough, because it was. It was an intense game throughout and we were able to blow out the margin at the end.”

Sleep said he had put plans in place to combat Geelong United’s usual avenues to goal.

“The girls executed those plans perfectly,” he said.

He paid tribute to Faith McKenzie and Caitlin Dumesny for curbing the influence of six-foot-two centre Carly Vuillermin after she got a run on. 

“Our girls can usually hold most talls, but she’s taller again. Faith and Caitlin had to work really hard and they did a great job.”

Georgia Hiscock was on song, contributing 27 points – including four three-pointers – to her team’s total, her best individual result for the season.

McKenzie, 23, also had a stellar night, with Olivia Jones, 12, and Dumesny, 11, recording double figures. 

“There was also a lot that doesn’t show up on the scoreboard, such as Shannon Cross and Kara Shuttleworth doing a lot of the grunt work,” Sleep said.

“Geelong was really physical and they were tough on our ball-handlers. 

“Our girls were up to the task though and held their players to account. They certainly would have been feeling the effects on Sunday.”

The Hornets returned to their home court on Sunday against Colac Kookas, winning a close encounter 73-62.

“While Saturday night was exciting, on Sunday we just did what we had to do,” Sleep said.

“It wasn’t pretty by any means, but we got the win. All credit to Colac, they came up undermanned and really pushed us.” 

The Lady Hornets will meet top side Warrnambool in the first semi-final on February 1.

Sleep said he looked forward to the challenge.

“The competition has been so very even that any team who can play like our girls did on Saturday night has a good shot at the title,” he said.

“If we can replicate that, there’s no telling what our girls can achieve.”

Mixed results

Wimmera teams had mixed results in their final round of the men’s regular season, with the Hornets enjoying a win to finish third overall and Stawell and Ararat finishing their seasons with losses.

The Hornets defeated Colac 99-87 in Horsham on Sunday but the Kookas’ season was on the line and they made them work hard for every point.

Colac led for much of the match, with the Hornets hitting the front at the end of the third quarter. 

Nathan Lemke, 23, and Jordan Lingard, 20, did their best to get the Kookas over the line but the Hornets stepped up in the latter stages to triumph. 

Mitch Martin, 19, coach Tim Pickert, 18, and Damien Skurrie, 17, headed a strong spread of scorers.

Despite one game remaining, the Hornets are likely to take on traditional rival Mt Gambier on February 1.

Ararat fought hard against Geelong United on Saturday night but was ultimately unsuccessful, going down by 31 points.

Josh Fiegert was outstanding, finishing with a 30-point haul, and the Redbacks had plenty of names on the scoreboard.

Jason Cameron, 14, top scored for Ararat in his side’s 57-114 loss to Terang on Sunday.

The Redbacks finished 11th overall, with five wins for the season.

Stawell also fell short of Geelong United in its final game of the year. 

Despite the 131-77 result, the Wildcats had a strong contribution of scorers, led by Aidan Marr, 26, and Joel Freeland, 25.

The Wildcats finished on the bottom of the ladder but have enjoyed plenty of positives in their return to the competition.

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