Reigning premier New Kids Aces will meet Uranquinty in Saturday’s preliminary final looking to take the last spot in the grand final.
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Minor premiers, New Kids Aces, lost the major semi-final to Shooting Stars last week while Uranquinty finished the Panthers’ season in the elimination semi.
The Aces and the Greens have met on three occasions this season, with the minor premiers winning two of them and the third being a draw.
In their round five clash, the Aces had a comfortable 65-47 win, but in five weeks later Uranquinty went as close to beating the Aces as any team had previously and drew 41-all.
In the last round prior to the finals, the result was very close with the Aces coming from behind to win 50-48.
The result of Saturday’s preliminary final could well be decided on the conversion rate of the respective teams’ shooters.
The Uranquinty team have three shooters they can use in Stacey Curran, Lana Duffy and Jess Allen, but it’s more than likely that Curran and Duffy will get the nod.
Certainly Allen can be used if either of the former two aren’t converting, but the beauty of Allen is her versatility, which enables her to be a useful player at the opposite end of the court.
Opposed to the Quinty shooters will be any two of four strong defenders, namely Tracy Schulz-Cole, Lisa Reynoldson, Marie Campbell and youngster, Rhiannon Podmore.
All four have been prominent this season in frequently intercepting passes into the circle, by opponents and become the springboard for attacking moves.
The Aces also have two very good shooters in the long-serving Lisa Frow and former Uranquinty player, Paige Guthrie.
It will be interesting to see who coach Clarke decides to start with on Frow, whether she goes for the experienced Rachael Creasy or the younger Georgina Grant.
Brooke Tilyard has been in good form at goal defence and her tussle with Guthrie should be a good one.
Aces coach Naomi Hocker will surely give serious consideration to starting their champion Rachael Addison.
Addison has just played a total of eleven quarters this season due injury and has been eased into the team by halves, but her mere presence on the court to direct the play is invaluable.
In centre court, the Aces have had two fine young players in Abbeys, Fellows and Corbett, both of whom will run all day and if allowed be constant feeders to the shooters.
However, Quinty’s Olivia Tilyard and Meg Reinhold have produced some excellent games and should break even with the Aces’ pair.
With a grand final berth at stake, Saturday’s game is sure to be a hard-fought contest between the two.