Hume City Broncos overcame a slow start to take a 1-0 lead in the Big V women’s state championship semi-finals.
The Broncos, who had a first-week bye in the finals after finishing on top of the ladder, were slow out of the blocks and trailed Southern Peninsula 25-15 at quarter-time.
The Broncos switched on after the first quarter, outscoring the Sharks 66-38 in the next three terms to win 81-63.
Broncos’ coach, Katrina Hibbert, said her team’s slow start was due to the Sharks starting well in front of their home crowd and Hume City not being switched on.
“Southern Peninsula at Southern Peninsula is always hard and they played with an upbeat tempo,” Hibbert said.
“We were lacklustre and allowed Kaitlyn Mileto to have some long shots, and she hit the scoreboard.
“It’s a learning curve for us and something to become better at – not having that slow start.”
After quarter-time, the Broncos switched on, shutting down Mileto and the Sharks’ scoring.
Mileto had 14 points in the first quarter but managed just a further two for the rest of the game.
“We made it an emphasis to hold them to at least 15 points or less a quarter, and we did that,” the coach said.
“We knew they wouldn’t be able to hold on and match it with us for the whole game.”
Mua Laloifi starred at both ends of the court for the Broncos, scoring 30 points and five rebounds.
“You look at the points she had and you see how hard she worked with the ball,” Hibbert said.
“The guards were able to find her and she was switched on defensively. She took shutting down Mileto as a personal task, and she was able to do that.”
Colleen Planeta scored 20 points and had 12 rebounds, while Nicole Zammit, after her overseas travels, returned to the court for the first time since May 29, scoring 17 points and having 10 assists.
“Nicole has such good basketball smarts and can work around lack of game fitness by doing all the little things,” Hibbert said.
“We have a week’s break and we’ll make sure we get some recovery going so she can back it up on Saturday.”
Game two of the series will be played at Broadmeadows Stadium on Saturday night. Game three, if needed, will be played on Sunday, also at Broadmeadows.
Knox leads the other semi-final series 1-0 over Ringwood.
