Friday night didn’t disappoint with not one but two overtime games in the Men’s League and Division One.
For the Men’s we saw Canberra take on Queanbeyan in the Qualifying Final with the game coming down to double overtime.
After trailing by 3 at the third quarter break, Queanbeyan fought back to even the score by full time. By the end of the 7 minute half's of play in overtime, the scores were still level. This sent the game into a second overtime with the winner being decided by a margin of two.
A misplaced pass in the goal circle for Canberra, gave Queanbeyan the opportunity to take out the game with a 55 to 53 win to head straight into the next weeks Grand Final!
Queanbeyan President Kelly Lolesia said that is was a very fast, intense and inspiring game to watch.
“After many years at the challenging end of the Men's League ladder, this team have come together as a great group of athletes who are so passionate about netball and absolutely love what they are doing”, Kelly said.
This is the first time that Queanbeyan have made it into the HCF State League Finals and to head straight to the Grand Final is a huge achievement.
Canberra gets a second chance this week when they take on South Canberra after South Canberra (67) had a strong win against Arawang (26) in the Elimination Final.
In Division One, we saw Tuggeranong take on Canberra in the Qualifying final. Both teams came out firing in the first quarter with Canberra taking a two-point lead. However, Tuggeranong fought back and went into the second half with a 5-point buffer.
The game was tight throughout the last half with multiple lead changes in the 4th quarter. Some accurate shooting from Tuggeranong’s Sophia Martinussen and strong defensive pressure down the other end sees Tuggeranong through to the Grand Final.
In the second overtime game of the night, reigning premiers Arawang give themselves another opportunity to enter the Grand Final after a thrilling 1-point win over Belconnen.
Arawang head coach Kim Symons said it was a nailbiter of a finish however she was happy how her team grinded it out especially into overtime.
“It will be another tough game this Friday, after losing our last game against Canberra badly, we have hit the training track hard this week, and we are ready for the challenge”, Kim said.
Game results from Semi-Final round:
Division 1
Canberra 41 v Tuggeranong 44
Arawang 55 v Belconnen 54
Division 2
Canberra 43 v South Canberra 46
Arawang 38 v Belconnen 51
Men’s League
Queanbeyan 55 v Canberra 53
South Canberra 67 Arawang 26
19s Division
Canberra 56 v South Canberra 42
Belconnen 40 v Tuggeranong 44
17s Division
Canberra 46 v South Canberra 40
Tuggeranong 51 v Belconnen 44
