Sarah Luke
THE Sale Sonics were on the wrong side of the scoreboard when the final buzzer went, pipped by six points by visitor Traralgon in the women’s CBL on Sunday.
Fresh off a 58-53 loss to Moe on Saturday, the T-Birds were looking for redemption at Bishop Phelan Stadium, and took to the court all guns blazing, scoring a two-pointer through Lauryn King-Church in the opening minute.
The Sonics weren’t going to go down without a fight though, and responded with two two-pointers from Olivia Barnett and Melanie Johnston, in an attempt to steal Sale’s first win for the season.
While Traralgon jumped out to an early lead, with aggressive defence and a strong running game, the game was anyone’s.
Traralgon led for the majority and often broke away with a string of scores, but Sale held its own, keeping the visitor within 11 points, and climbing back to even on more than one occasion.
In the final quarter, Sale regained composure and began to chip away at the T-Birds’ lead by hitting shots from outside.
Bree Kerton, shooting from deep, was instrumental in the charge, as was Indigo Waugh’s ability to get to the rim.
Johnston began to give Traralgon headaches, as her rebounding and presence at both of the floor was taking its toll.
With two and a half minutes to go and Sale inched ahead by four points, Traralgon called a time out, regrouped and swiftly took the lead with speed, and by forcing Sale into some bad shots, sealing the deal, 67-61.
Top scorers for the Sonics were Kerton on 17, followed by Waugh and Johnston on 10, while Traralgon’s Laura Vannapraseuth managed 20, Devenie 13 and Liesl Sexton 11.
The Sonics have a week courtside, before their match at Warragul on Saturday, November 17.
IN the other women CBL match for the weekend, Korumburra defeated Warragul 74-60.
AFTER another week off, Maffra will take to the Cameron Sporting Complex for a showdown against Moe for its third match of the season, Saturday night from 7pm.
