Lady Miners back to back champs
6/09/2006
In a great weekend of basketball, the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) recorded another clean sweep at the "Champion" ABA National Finals, held at Newcastle Basketball Stadium.
SEABL Women Runner Up Ballarat "Community Health" Lady Miners recorded back to back ABA National championships and SEABL East Men Champion "St Laurence" Geelong Supercats recorded their second ABA National Title since 1999.
Ballarat Lady Miners secured another come from behind victory, with a tough 69-66 victory over fellow SEABL team Bendigo Lady Braves. Grand Final MVP Karen Ashby (Ballarat) provided 24 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 blocks and was an obvious choice for the award after she single-handedly broke the game open in the fourth quarter and played a pivotal role in her teams victory.
Ballarat had an arduous weekend in their path to the Grand Final, defeating Big V Wildcard Dandenong Rangers on Friday evening 72-69 after trailing by 3 points with two minutes remaining. They defeated Big V Champion Sandringham Sabres 76-60 in a tough encounter on Saturday afternoon. Their opponent in the final, Bendigo Lady Braves road through to the finals started with a tough 79-70 win over Waratah Wildcard Sydney Comets on Friday and then a victory against Waratah Champion Bankstown Bruins 95-89 in a highly contested Semi Final on Saturday.
Geelong Supercats earned their place in the Australian Club Championship Grand Final with victories over QABL Champion Southern Districts 100-92 on Friday night and a comfortable 93-81 victory over SEABL South Men Champion Knox Raiders on Saturday evening.
The Geelong Supercats exorcised the demons of 2004 & 2005 with a comprehensive 94-80 triumph over Big V Champion Dandenong Rangers in the 2006 Champion ABA National Men's Grand Final. Mark Leader's team played with a purpose, order and discipline that simply left their rivals troubled at both ends of the court.
SEABL South Men Champion Knox Raiders made it to the National Semi Final, thrashing Waratah Wildcard Newcastle Hunters 132-80. Raiders showed even with seven players they were committed to the National Finals and Raiders import CJ Massingale put on a shooting display finishing the game with a career high 51 points @ 68%, including 11 three pointers.
The ABA National Finals Weekend All Star Five was also announced on Sunday with the SEABL again dominating the teams. Ballarat Lady Miners Karen Ashby and Rachelle Sewell and Bendigo Lady Braves Andrea Walsh were selected into the team along with Dani Samuels (Bankstown - Waratah) and Monique Bowley (Sturt - Central).
Jamal Brown (Geelong) and CJ Massingale (Knox) earned a position on the Mens ABA National Finals All Star Five along with Cameron Tovey (Sutherland - Waratah), Lester Strong (Dandenong - Big V) and Nathan Crosswell (Sandringham - Big V).