Last weekend’s 12th round of the Central Australian Basketball League season pitted the Eastern Mavericks against the West Adelaide Bearcats for their second meeting of 2013. The final results went the same way as their round 3 clash with the Mavericks women taking the 4 points as they pushed home in the fourth to an 81-64 win.

After a loss to the undefeated Flames the week before, the Mavericks welcomed back Tess Madgen for the game against the Bearcats, who are knocking at the door for a finals berth. Alana Nairn looked set for a big game with 9 first quarter points and 4 offensive rebounds for the Bearcats, teammates Ashlea Vordermaier and Kate Shierlaw also had 4 points each shooting 100 per cent from the field.

However the Mavericks were drawing plenty of fouls early, three on Madgen and 3 on Jemma Thacker, which would later put pressure on key Bearcat players. And though they had 7 offensive rebounds in the first quarter the Bearcats couldn’t put their shots away, going 10 from 23, while the Mavericks made 7 from their mere 10 shots to go with 7 points at the line.

Thacker led the term for Eastern with 8 points, Madgen had 6 and Shannon Tarran was 2 from 2 in as many minutes before she took a rest with multiple early fouls. West Adelaide led at the first break by a single point. Mavs coach Nathan Jones later commented on the close start “In the first quarter we had to learn to play with Tess back, they had 7 offensive boards, in the second they had only 2, and they ended with 12 for the whole game. So we really improved throughout the game, outrebounding them by nearly 20 in total”.

In a low scoring second period 5 Bearcats girls made single baskets, while Thacker added another 2 points at the line and junior Georgia Green pulled in her second offensive board and gave eastern another basket. Madgen made the most of the lull and set about scoring 11 points including 2 three pointers, the first drew the Mavericks level and the second gave them the lead for the first time since the early minutes of the match.

Eastern’s small guards Megan Thomas and Tenille Searl had little impact on the first half as the big Bearcats set screens, both made hard impact with picks as their fellow teammates failed to talk it out. The tide was turning as West Adelaide failed to make it to the free throw line once in the second term and the Mavericks were beginning to box out and grab more rebounds both offensively and defensively. The Mavericks held a 4 point buffer at the long break.

The first 5 minutes of the third quarter were back and forth with the Mavs maintaining their lead. Amanda MacDermot stretched that lead with a jump-shot closely followed by her second for the night from behind the arc. Nairn was given responsibility for the Bearcats as she knocked down 2 baskets in quick succession, closing the gap back to 5 before young Green hit a well timed shot from downtown, starting an 8 point run for Eastern. Bearcats coach Trudie Hopgood called a timeout and Nairn came back with another 4 points in her 10 point quarter.

Eastern entered the final quarter with a 6 point lead and piled on 23 points to 12 to come home strong. The Mavericks stepped up after their first term and took the game through their rebounding effort and ability to score in the key. Madgen returned with a triple double, adding 12 assists and 19 rebounds to her 33 points. Thacker had another impressive game with 17 points, shooting 7 from 8 at the free throw line. Green had a great game assisting the team all over the court with 6 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists, she set a screen for Madgen near the end of the game that resulted in an open look and another three pointer. “She’s a great athlete, we’re looking forward to having her down for 2 trainings a week next year” commented Jones, “We’re lucky we had her tonight, I think she was a big part of why we won”.

Eastern now sit equal third on points, just behind Forestville on percentage, and four games clear of dropping out of the top 5. With Madgen out for the next 2 games against Centrals and South (both well outside the finals brackets), Jones commented “we do need to win those games, but we’re confident we can perform like we did against Woodville”.

Eastern Mavericks 81 (Madgen 33, Thacker 17, MacDermot 10) defeated West Adelaide Bearcats 64 (Nairn 23, Shierlaw 11).

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By Lachlan Eggars