Hume City secured home court advantage in the Big V women’s state championship basketball finals by defeating McKinnon on Sunday.
The Lady Broncos and Cougars have known for the past couple of rounds that they would face off in the first week of the finals. The question was which team would finish second and which team would be third.
Hume City coach Warren Taylor said the team fought hard for the 70-65 win.
“Because there was something on the line, we still went as hard as we could,’’ Taylor said.
“I was pretty confident that we could beat them and get the home final advantage. We still have more to bring in the final series.”
The victory means the Lady Broncos will play two games of the three-game semi-finals series at Broadmeadows, with the winning team going through to the grand final.
Five players hit double figures for the Lady Broncos against the Cougars.
Taylor said he had urged some of his players to lift their scoring output.
“The last two games, we had only one player in double figures,’’ he said.
“We are a very defensive side, so we knew we had to get more players on the scoreboard.”
Colleen Planeta top scored for the Broncos, putting up 18 points to go with 10 rebounds. Taylor said he believed Planeta was the best player in the competition and hoped she would win the league’s most valuable player award.
He said Jacinta Scott and Mua Laloifi would also be important in the finals as they matched up well against the Cougars.
In the men’s state championship, Hume City ended its season on Sunday with a win against Eltham, 93-89.
The Broncos finished ninth on the ladder, having lost to Whittlesea Pacers, 86-81, on Saturday night.
Craigieburn just missed the finals in women’s division 1, finishing in fifth spot. The Eagles finished with the same amount of points as the third and fourth-placed teams. The Pacers were sixth on the ladder.
Tara Murray
