BSBL women’s: Tornadoes Red edge out Tornadoes Black, Aces Sky smash Bulls Gold

Tornadoes Red emerged as the winners of the Bunbury Senior Basketball League women’s A-grade table-toppers clash on Friday night, beating Tornadoes Black by two points.

Reigning champions Black were bolstered by the huge addition of Tiahna Sears for the game, with last season’s most valuable player award winner bolstering a line-up which included fellow NBL1 West talents Bree Chalk and Javene Fitch.

But it was Red who were able to hold off a late charge from their Tornadoes compatriots to run out 65-63 winners.

After a close first half, a blistering 15-0 run to close out the third term saw Red take a nine-point advantage into the final break.

Black did not go away in the last quarter, getting the gap as close as three points, but Red did enough to survive.

The competition’s leading scorer Grace Adams led all scorers in 25 points in the game, receiving good support from Jasmine Barrett (17 points) and Jean Coyle (14).

Sears finished with 18 points, being one of four Black players to produce a double-digit scoring tally.

In the other game, Aces Sky sent a message they are not to be underestimated with a dominant 33-point win over Bulls Gold.

An 84-51 result saw the two sides trade places on the ladder, with the winners now up to third place and Gold dropping down to fourth.

But Sky will finish their season on a bye, meaning they are still all but certainties to face Gold in the elimination final next week.

Gold led by as many as nine points in the early stages of the game but Sky were able to wrestle back the momentum to lead by 10 points at half-time before a dominant second half where they restricted Gold to just 19 points while stacking on 42 of their own.

In a true team effort, six players scored 12 points or more for the winners, with Isabella Wilmot (15 points) leading the way.

Fifth-placed Conquerors had a bye.