By Tara Murray
Craigieburn Eagles are through to the Big V women’s division 2 grand final series.
The Eagles, who have been the best side all season, were challenged all the way by the Wallan Panthers in a thrilling semi-final on Saturday night.
The Eagles ground out a 65-57 win in front of a big crowd.
Coach Ben Carroll said the key was being able to play the game on their terms.
“Because we’ve been able to plan ahead a little bit … we’ve been able to plan for this game for a while,” he said.
“I felt like for most of the game it was played on our terms, it felt like there was one little patch in the third quarter where they got on top of us.
“We just had to cool our heads a little bit … once we did that and got the game back on our terms, we got a bit more control and some poise.
“We seemed pretty comfortable. It took some really good shooting, it’s just reward for effort.”
The Eagles took a little while to get their offence going, but once they did they were able to put the pressure back on the Panthers.
It was the Eagles most experienced player, captain Kellie Bailey-Lynn, that pushed them early in the game.
Bailey-Lynn top-scored for the Eagles with 13 points, including three, three-pointers in the second quarter.
Defensively, she was just as tough, making it hard for the Panthers to bring it up the court.
“To be honest, it’s not a surprise at all,” Carroll said of his captain. “She’s a star.”
While Bailey-Lynn led the scoring, the Eagles had contributors across the board.
Carroll said that had been a real focus for them.
“When we had our injured players we were forced to stop being like that. Now we’ve got everyone back, we’ve got that even spread.”
The Eagles now have a week off before facing the winner of the preliminary final between the Panthers and Blackburn Vikings in a three game grand final series.
Carroll, who is in his first year of coaching the side, said it will be a few exciting weeks.
He said they were hoping that the men’s side could win game two and three of their semi-final series, so both sides would host grand final games on the same days.
“We have two weeks to work really hard and be ready to go.”
Carroll said he was present when both the women and men played grand finals in the past and it had been a full house. “It’s always talked about, the glory days. Hopefully we can recreate that and have that ourselves.”
