Hume City Lady Broncos have already exceeded preseason expectations and now have their eyes on a second Big V basketball state title in as many years.
After losing much of its starting line- up from last season, the Lady Broncos set a target of just making the finals as they set about rebuilding.
But as the season progressed, the Broncos emerged as a title contender and finished second on the ladder.
On Saturday night they beat McKinnon Cougars 72-66 to wrap up the semi-final series 2-0.
They will now face Ringwood in a rematch of last year’s grand final series.
Lady Broncos coach Warren Taylor said the match against McKinnon was another arm wrestle.
“It was a tough, physical, aggressive game,” he said.
“Last week, they got out in front and we had to come from behind. This week we got our noses in front and went to an eight-point lead more than once, but never a bigger lead than that.”
Lady Broncos got over the line on the back of 42 points and 15 rebounds by Colleen Planeta, who Taylor predicted would win the league MVP.
“I’ve never seen a performance like that,” said Taylor. “She had a big last quarter and she got the team on her back.
“We were in a lot of trouble in the defensive end and she stepped up and took important rebounds and blocked a number of shots.”
Taylor said Planeta had stepped up in the finals series.
“Only once she has had under 18 points and that was because she spent most of the game on the bench being rested,” he said.
“Speaking to other coaches the consensus is that no-one can handle her.”
Taylor said the grand final rematch would be different from last year, especially in the offensive end.
“Defensively we troubled them in last year’s grand final, so we will look at what we did then,” he said. “We have a couple of things up our sleeves.”
The Hawks’ only loss for the season was against the Lady Broncos.
“They’re very beatable,” Taylor said. “They’ve been good all year but we’re now playing some of our best basketball.”
Tara Murray
