Harper Sercombe
Hume City Broncos won their first Big V state championship men’s finals match against local rivals Sunbury Jets at the Broadmeadows Basketball Stadium on Saturday.
A spot against Wyndham in the semi finals was on the line, with both teams to go through to the next week of finals no matter the result.
The Jets took a three point lead into the quarter time and seemed to be working their way into the game, although proved not enough for the hungry Hume side.
The Broncos came out firing in the second quarter going on a 17-2 point run within the first five minutes of the term.
The match played out all in the Broncos’ hands, bar a charge late from the Jets which turned out to be too little too late, losing 94-86.
Broncos’ coach Matt Foster said he was pleased to get the win over the strong Jets side.
“It’s always good to get that win, against Sunbury who are a really tough side, an experienced side, who got us last year, but really happy to get that first one out of the way,” Foster said.
“Our defence in the whole game, but in the first half [in particular] was exceptional.
“We try to play aggressive and adapt, we were first to the ball a lot so that probably helped.”
Chris Elder top scored for the Broncos with 23 points as all five starters scored double figures.
Troyce Manassa had 21 points, four rebounds, seven assists and four steals in a solid all round performance.
It wasn’t all bad news for Sunbury with the league’s second most prolific scorer Ishmael Sanders doing what he does best, putting down 27 points and having five assists and doing this with the extra attention the Broncos had put into him.
“Ish is an awesome player, we made him work hard for his shots, he still got buckets but the guys hung in there and we had guys for a couple of minutes and contributed so it was really pleasing,” Foster said.
The Broncos, they will head into a final against top placed Wyndham, where the winner will guarantee themselves a place in the grand final.
“They know us well, we know them reasonably well, hopefully it’s a really good game and hopefully we get a W,” Foster said.
“Hopefully we can get another win and get another home game at some stage
The loser will play off against the winner of Sunbury and McKinnon to fill the remaining spot in the big dance.
The Broncos championship women finished their season with a 62-59 loss to the Camberwell Dragons.
The Broncos finished the season in sixth spot.
