Despite only one loss – and that by only two points – in the first half of the Big V women’s basketball state championship season, Hume City Broncos aren’t resting on their laurels.
The two-time reigning premiers sit second on the ladder after a competition bye last weekend; they’re equal with Ringwood, having both lost a game each.
Assistant coach Warren Taylor said his side had been a little up and down in the first part of the season.
He said the loss to Waverley was the catalyst for a form turnaround.
“We lost in the last minute of the game on a bad call, and it was acknowledged as a bad call, but we should have been 10-15 points up,” Taylor said.
“It would have been nice to be undefeated, but sometimes you need losses like that as we weren’t playing the best basketball.
“It’s easier to stress and emphasise what the errors are when you’re not playing well.”
Taylor said the side had worked hard to fix those areas and had won the five games since the loss to Waverley.
“We thought our rebounding and offensive boards could have been better.
“For a side with Colleen [Planeta] and Viv [Vivien Saad], we were not at the level where we wanted to be.
“We were giving up points in places we weren’t happy with.
“It was nothing drastic, just something we need to fix if we are going to continue to improve.”
He said three-point shooting was another area players had been struggling with.
“You can’t sit on your laurels and you have to keep pushing to improve in all areas. Credit to the girls, it has been fixed.”
Star centre Planeta continues to lead the side, averaging more than 23 points a game.
Taylor said, despite putting up high numbers, Planeta saw herself as being in a form slump.
He said he had coached only one other player who was as hard on themselves: current Broncos’ coach Katrina Hibbert. “They work well together,” Taylor said.
The Broncos have a mixed run home, including matches against top-three sides Ringwood and Waverley, as well as clashes with some of the lower teams.
“When you play sides towards the bottom of the ladder, like Sherbrooke and Diamond Valley, you have to be careful every time,” Taylor said.
“We’re yet to play either Sherbrooke or Diamond Valley and have to play both sides twice in the last 10 rounds.
“We haven’t won against Diamond Valley at their home court in the past two years and it’s an absolute bugbear.”
“Eight of the girls are back this year and we don’t want it to happen again.”
