AFTER a thriller game one, Waverley and Hume City again face off again on Saturday night – one side with the objective of take the series in a clean sweep, the other with a view of stretching the series to three games.
As of Thursday morning, an overwhelming 80 per cent of the 258 voters on Big V’s website poll locked in Waverley to take revenge on last year’s result.
But Waverley coach Matt Dickens said his side, whilst excited for this weekend’s match-up, by no means underestimated the abilities of Hume City.
“It’s going to be a massive task playing away, especially in front of a Hume crowd,” Dickens said.
“(Last Saturday night’s game) was a tough game and there’s no way you could have predicted the week before that was the way it was going to play out.”
Dickens said his side would need to be playing at their best in order to take victory.
“There’s no easy wins at this level,” he said.
The Broncos controlled the tempo and pace for the first 20 minutes of game time on Saturday night, settling with a 13-point lead at the major break.
It was from here the Falcons kicked up a gear, their finals chances at the forefront of their minds, and produced a turn-around which saw them take a 10-point victory.
The Falcons managed to hold the lead for just four minutes and 50 seconds of game time – but were able to pull it together at the right time to seal the game.
“I think we need to focus on the things we did right, but do them even better - we know Hume City will come back and be even more competitive this game,” Dickens said.
Hume City coach Glenn Milner said his outfit would not be rattled by game one’s result.
“We played two halves of basketball and unfortunately we didn’t win the right half,” Milner said.
“I sensed our intensity dropped off in the second half and Waverley was able to move the ball well, find the right positions and knock down their open shots.”
The Broncos coach said he would be pushing his side to maintain their defensive structure for the full four quarters this week.
He said Waverley had proven they had the depth off the bench and held high respect for the abilities of every one of their players.
“We’re expecting a pretty good supporter base here on Saturday night, which will be a great support for us,” Milner said.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to string together a more consistent four quarters this Saturday.”
Tip-off is 7.30pm at the Broadmeadows Basketball Stadium with Game Three to be played at 1.30pm at the same venue on Sunday if required
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