The Ararat Redbacks will go into their mid-season break with mixed results from their round nine double header against Warrnambool Seahawks and Mt Gambier Lakers.
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It was the perfect start to the weekend for the Redbacks, when they defeated Warrnambool Seahawks 54-96 and assistant coach Blake Thomas said it was a good win.
“Saturday night was a good game. We won by almost half their score. We were making shots and we had everyone playing” he said.
Thomas said while the Redbacks won the previous encounter against the Seahawks, they also knew they had a job to do.
“We didn’t want to let our guard down. We came out with the same intensity as we normally would,” Thomas said.
“Our main plan was to do everything we normally would, pass it around and use our plays like normal.
“We knew they had a few big guys, so our goal was to keep them out of the paint.”
It seemed to work as they sealed their third win of the season.
It was a different story on Sunday, though, as the Redbacks faced one of the toughest teams in the competition in Mt Gambier, who is second on the table.
The Redbacks let their intentions be known right from tip-off, and played the fast-paced game that Thomas said they had aimed for.
“We wanted to go fast, because we knew they were coming off a game yesterday,” he said.
“We wanted to run them into the ground but we just couldn’t convert our shots I suppose.”
It seems to be a common thread as every time the Redbacks looked to shoot the ball, it just wouldn’t convert, often hitting the rim or the backboard.
“In that third quarter, the first 10 shots were open shots and we just couldn’t put them in,” Thomas said.
It didn’t help the Redbacks cause when they were missing six players for this clash.
Zac Dunmore, DJ Woods, Jayden Wright, Josh Fiegert, Craig Cooper and Sam Cronin were all unavailable.
The Redbacks eventually lost to the Mt Gambier Lakers 28-87 but Thomas said he was pleased with the effort.
“It was a good effort by the seven guys we had out (on the court) and we had about five players out with other commitments,” he said.
“We did a good job – just poor shooting. We played good defence, which was a plus.”
Thomas said it was pleasing to see that even in the third quarter, when they fell behind they started to take the game on a bit more. But he said, in the end it was not enough.
The Redbacks will end 2018 with three wins and nine losses.
They will resume their season on January 12.
