Cranbourne’s gallant Cavaliers. Back – Laura Stanley, coach Mark Holman, Niki Hornstra, Alex Keates, Ellen Lawson, assistant coach Andrew Lawson and team manager Sharon Keates. Middle – Captain Lara Pauline, Sharyn Henry and Miranda Gordon. Front – Jade Foot, Renee Swagemakers and Amy Mcfarlane.
By JARROD POTTER
WITH all odds against them, the Cranbourne Cavaliers fought valiantly to push Coburg all the way in a five-point loss in the Big V Division 2 womens grand final series.
Cranbourne didn’t have much to draw from off the bench – lost star centre Renae Mokrzycki for this match, absent overseas starting her college journey and Courtney Duff was unavailable as well to shallow out the depth.
Amy Mcfarlane somehow found a way to play, despite being severely hampered by an ankle injury the week before and some dubious foul-calls left forward/centre Alex Keates sitting out big chunks of the match.
Despite the disadvantage, Cranbourne led for most of the match, building a 26-16 margin through the third quarter before the experience of Coburg’s offence and better refreshed starters took a stranglehold of the match.
Cranbourne’s foul shooting was sub par – hitting 7/25 from the line in what proved to be a deciding factor.
The Cavaliers held the lead until the last four minutes of the final term when Coburg hit the front and pulled away to hoist the championship 40-35.
Lara Pauline, with 13 points and eight rebounds, put in the biggest captain’s effort seen in Big V for a long time. She played every position on the court, from 1-2 guard all the way to playing centre after Keates was fouled off, as she tried desperately to keep the Cavaliers in the match as injuries and fouls mounted around her.
“I think we gave everything we had and left it out there on the court,” Pauline said.
“I’m so proud of the girls – we talked before the game and said no matter what we would leave it out there and do our best and I think despite the result, we’ve done great this year.”
Keates before being fouled off controversially was also sensational, stepping up to the centre position with eight points and 11 rebounds.
In a low-scoring match, the non-stat-sheet aspects for the Cavaliers stood out – Sharyn Henry’s defensive pressure and fantastic post defence from Jade Foot and Renee Swagemakers late in the match helped keep Cranbourne alive.
Cranbourne coach Mark Holman said he was extremely proud of the Cavaliers’ endeavour in a difficult match.
“Pride, in one word, they went down swinging. The fact that we lost Moky (Mokrzycki), Courtney was unavailable, Amy was still injured, Ellen was still injured – so a third of our team was either not here or injured,” Holman said.
“I told the team we have our backs to the wall and if we lose we go home, they put in what I thought was the best performance of the season, despite the loss.”
It caps off an impressive opening season for the Cavaliers women’s Big V program, finishing runner up less than 12 months after the team was formed.
