On Sunday the Lady Hawks traveled to Dandenong to battle the Rangers in their last regular season game.

In the first quarter, it was goal for goal until the Rangers nailed some triples, setting them ahead. Ringwood struggled to find good scoring opportunities, but came back late led by Ella Ogier who had nine points for the quarter. The Hawks were trailing 21 to 18 at quarter time.

In the second quarter Ringwood came out firing but the shooting of Rebecca Cole and Coleen Planeta kept Dandenong in the lead. Ringwood persisted, and a late 10-0 run put them four points up at half time.

The game seesawed in the third quarter. Dandenong dominated the early stages but Ringwood denied them the lead, going into the last quarter with a one point lead.

The last quarter was tense as both teams’ defence denied easy baskets. Captain Danni Bone found Jacqui Trotto under the basket with a long pass, and Jacqui finished off the play with two points, putting Ringwood in the lead with a minute to go. Ringwood re-won possession and Megan Mullings was fouled. She calmly sunk two clutch free-throws with 6.6 second remaining. Aimie Clydesdale tried to take the game into overtime with a last second three but her attempt to even the scores was blocked by Jacqui Trotto, leaving the Hawks with a 71-68 win.

Cole (23 points) and Planeta (25 points and 3 blocks) were the Rangers stars but were overcome by an outstanding team performance by Ringwood led by Ella Ogier (16 points and 11 rebounds), Cassidy Mihalko (15 points and 8 rebounds) and Danni Bone (14 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists).

The win capped off an amazing first NBL1 regular season for the Ringwood Hawks who finished in third position, with a record of 15 wins and 5 losses. With commencement of the NBL1 women’s finals delayed by a week to accommodate an Opals camp, the Lady Hawks will play their first game of the playoffs against the Supercats in Geelong on Saturday 3 August with tipoff at 7pm.

By Emma Hastings U12-2