SOME soul searching on a bus and a whole lot of hurt has the Warrnambool Mermaids primed for tonight’s cut-throat grand final series clash with Altona.
After dropping game one last Sunday, the Mermaids must win at the Arc tonight to push the series into a third and deciding match for the Big V division one women’s championship tomorrow.
Warrnambool coach Peter Davis said his side was severely affected by last weekend’s 70-62 loss to the Lady Gators.
“The girls have been hurting since last week’s performance,” he said.
“They came out and (had) maybe a little stage fright or something like that.
“They just didn’t get into the flow of the game.”
The loss prompted a cathartic trek back to Warrnambool.
“On the way home on the bus, we looked at different ideas about the game and all the players contributed to that,” he said.
“We discussed why it went the way it did.
“There was a little bit of soul searching and basically when we got off the bus, we were finished with that game and focused on (tonight).”
Davis believed the pain from last weekend would be motivation for tonight.
“Last weekend, (Altona) really controlled the whole game, which was a credit to them,” he said. “They did a good job and executed their stuff well.
“We will be making sure that they don’t feel comfortable on our court.
“As a team we need to make sure they’re not able to do things like go through their offence the way they want.”
The coach said the Mermaids were refusing to look any further than tonight’s opening period.
“We didn’t go in at the start of the season and say ‘we’re going to win 20 games’,” Davis said.
“We just wanted to win the game we were playing.
“Even then, we just wanted to win the first quarter, which is the way you’ve got to think about it in any sport.
“I think some girls played the game in their head before they arrived at the court last weekend but you can’t do that.
“You just have to come out and put it on the court then and there.”
Warrnambool is looking for bigger and more even contributions tonight compared with the opening game, when several players were quieter than usual.
“Last game was the first time we didn’t get contributions from outside a couple of players,” Davis said.
“All the girls are talented basketballers and athletes and they know for whatever reason, things didn’t go their way last week and we addressed that at practice.
“I have no doubt that we’ll be able to bounce back.”
One of the Mermaids’ major aims tonight is curbing the influence of young Altona guard Stacey Barr.
Barr continued her amazing late season form by nailing a game-high 35 points last weekend.
“For any player to get 35 points in this league, it’s just too much,” Davis said.
“She’s a very, very good player and is exciting to watch.
“We have to do a better job of containing her.”
Email a friend