Hume City Broncos’ finals hopes have been crushed, while the Whittlesea Pacers’ are hanging by a thread in Big V basketball men’s state championship.
The Broncos had to defeat second-placed Corio Bay on Saturday to have any chance of making the playoffs entering the final round.
But the Stingrays came out with all guns blazing, taking the game out of the Broncos’ hands in the first quarter. The Stingrays shot 34 points while restricting the Broncos to just 13.
Corio Bay extended the lead to 37 points at half-time. The Broncos were able to stem the flow in the second half, outscoring the Stingrays by eight points, but they still lost heavily 110-81. Jermaine Maybank led the Broncos with 27 points.
Hume City faces Whittlesea on Saturday and Eltham on Sunday in this weekend’s final round.
The Pacers must defeat the Broncos and hope other results go their way to sneak into finals. Whittlesea is in eighth position, one game behind McKinnon. The Pacers defeated Eltham 77-69 on Sunday after getting off to a good start and establishing a 10-point lead by quarter time. That was quickly hauled back in the second term, with the Wildcats levelling scores by the main break.
But the Pacers outscored the Wildcats in the third and fourth quarters to get the win. Jason Dirkx top scored with 27 points.
Whittlesea’s women’s division 1 side also needs results to fall its way to make the finals.
Entering the final round, the Pacers are sixth, two games behind the teams in third, fourth and fifth. The Pacers have to win their remaining two matches and hope the Werribee Devils and Mildura Heat lose.
The Pacers kept their finals hopes alive with a 62-46 win over Keilor on Sunday. Stephanie Clark top scored for Whittlesea with 13 points.
One team assured a finals berth is the Lady Broncos in the state championship division.
A second or third-placed finish will depend on the final round result, with the Broncos taking on third-placed McKinnon Cougars.
The Broncos lost to top side Ringwood Hawks, 71-54, on Saturday, being made to pay for a poor second half in which they scored only 18 points.
