HORSHAM Lady Hornets will rely on their full court press to stun Colac into submission in the Country Basketball league grand final on Saturday night.
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A large complement of hard running guards gives the Lady Hornets the ability to press up the court and make life difficult for opposing ball carriers.
This will be particularly important against a Colac side that boasts two of the south west conference’s best shooting guards.
Georgia Varley and Lauren Bellegante were prolific in the Kookas’ upset win against Mt Gambier in the semi-final, scoring 40 points between them.
Varley hit six three pointers to finish with a game high 26 points.
A quartet of Lady Hornets guards will have to be on their game around the top of the key in defence.
Shannon Reinheimer, Aily McAuliffe and Georgia and Ally Hiscock cannot allow any free shots from beyond the arc.
The Lady Hornets will likely have a height advantage inside the paint at both ends of the court.
Between centre Annie Brack, forwards Jedda Heard and Maddie and Ema Iredell, the Lady Hornets can shut out the Colac talls.
Brack is a reliable player who regularly top scores for her team.
The Kookas will struggle to contain all four of the Lady Hornets talls, who have been in terrific form during the 2015-16 season.
This means the game could be won or lost on the strength of the guards.
Coach Gareth Hiscock said despite the Lady Hornets’ two wins against Colac this season, they would not be taking the Kookas lightly.
“They have two outstanding, genuine shooting guards from the Geelong South East Australian Basketball League team who are in one and two in the league for shots made,” he said.
“That is their strength and we have to make sure we get out to those shots.”
Shooting from outside has not been a major focus of the Lady Hornets this season.
Traditionally it has involved using the strength of Brack and other talls to score inside, or the speed of the guards to score on the fastbreak.
Hiscock said the side is looking forward to playing the grand final in front of a vocal home crowd at Horsham Basketball Stadium.
“The home crowd can sometimes be like having an extra player out on the court,” he said.
“But our court is the same size and shape as everyone else’s. I am sure the Colac supporters will come across and make plenty of noise.”
