A brave Keilor Thunder fell just short of a second straight National Basketball League 1 South grand final.
Having fought through adversity all season, the Thunder had their work cut out for them against the Knox Raiders on Saturday night in the preliminary final.
With two season ending injuries and Kasey Burton missing, the Thunder received the news that Jasmine Dickey had torn her ACL, ruling her out as well.
With the Thunder’s Big V youth league side playing its grand final at the same time, the Thunder was down to just seven players.
Thunder coach Kristi Harrower said while they didn’t get the result they were after, she was so proud of the playing group.
“We gave it everything that we could,” she said. “Going in with seven players was pretty ridiculous.
“We played pretty well and got on the scoreboard and got our defensive structures right. [Maddy] Rocci, Issie [Bourne] and P [Penina Davidson] had to carry the offensive end.
“It was a pretty tough physical game, that was pretty taxing.”
With the two finals being scheduled at the same time, the Thunder had some decisions to make in terms of who played where.
Harrower said in the end they didn’t give Macey Boyle a choice, saying they needed her in the NBL1 side.
Caitlyn Peterson remained with the youth league side where she played a key role for them.
Harrower said while everyone played their role, they ultimately were one or two players short of being able to really challenge for the full 40 minutes.
The Thunder led throughout most of the game against the Raiders.
The margin was four points quarter time and out to nine points at the main break.
Knox was able to bring that back to just one point heading into the final quarter.
The two sides traded the lead early in the last quarter before the Raiders made one last push which would be enough to come away with an 80-73 win.
“We were right there until the last 90 seconds,” Harrower said. “That’s what hurt us the most.
“We couldn’t come up with the defence boards and Kristy Wallace scored a basket for them. We didn’t run the right plays down the stretch.”
Maddy Rocci was outstanding for the Thunder with 32 points, seven rebounds and nine assists.
Harrower said the group had been through so much adversity with unavailabilities and injuries throughout the year.
She said had they had their full side they felt they could have claimed the championship.
“I’m really proud of the group to make a preliminary final, where we had a chance to win it,” she said.
“The last two years we’ve shown we are right up there with the top teams and we have some good kids coming through.”
Harrower said they would look to keep the core group together next year and add a couple of key pieces.
It was also heartbreak for the Thunder’s Victorian youth league championship women’s side which lost the grand final to Kilsyth in double overtime, 97-89.
