By Tara Murray
Hume City Broncos hopes of a second Big V men’s state championship title fell short on Saturday night.
Down 1-0 in the best of three grand final series against McKinnon Cougars, the Broncos weren’t able to force it to a third game.
The Cougars got the job done in front of their home crowd, 107-94.
Broncos coach Matt Foster said they had been beaten by a good team that had been well coached, by former Broncos star Maine Maybank.
“It’s not where we wanted to end up,” Foster said. “We gave it a crack.
“To be able to get there, I’m really proud of what we have achieved.
“They’re [McKinnon] a fantastic team with a lot of talent.
“They beat us four times and we beat them once. Every time they beat us, they always beat us differently.
“Everyone can shoot.”
On Saturday night it was the Cougars big three that got the job done.
The Cougars led by 15 points heading into the last change and the Broncos weren’t able to peg them back.
“It was really similar to last week, we would make a run and hit some shots and get it back to single digits,” Foster said.
“They would then hit a big shot. Our guys kept trying to the end.
“A couple of possessions differently, who knows what would have happened.”
Jordan Coleman top scored for the
Broncos, with 25 points, while Jamal Shabazz continued his good form, with 24 points and 12 rebounds.
Shayan Mahboobi, who stepped into a starting position, and Mackuei Puondak also scored double figures.
While unable to claim the championship, it’s been a massive improvement for the side, which has only made finals once in recent years.
Foster said when he took on the job, that he wanted to see some more men’s banners hanging in the rafters in Broadmeadows stadium.
While it wasn’t the one he wanted, he has still been able to achieve that.
“We wanted to build the men’s program back up. Hopefully we can build some momentum and hopefully we can carry that into next year.
“Hopefully we can keep the core group together for a bit.
“That’s what has been the key for the good sides in recent years.”
Meanwhile, Hume City Broncos young gun Daniel Foster helped the Australian 3 x 3 team to a bronze medal at the under-18 Asian Cup.
Foster was one of the standouts, named in the team of the tournament.
Foster finished with 30 points across the three games, the second most of the tournament.
