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As far as Symes Motors Bendigo Braves coach Ben Harvey is concerned it’s been job done in the past two weeks, but now comes the real test for his team.
After losing two in a row, the Braves returned to the winner’s list against lowly Canberra last weekend and then thrashed a depleted North-West Tasmania 100-64 at Bendigo Stadium on Saturday night.
Harvey set the Braves a goal of winning five of its last seven matches and the team has done as expected in the opening two matches.
But now comes the tough stretch.
The Braves host the south conference’s second-placed team, Knox, at home on Friday night before travelling to Brisbane for a tough away game on Saturday night.
Following that are matches against the three other top four teams in the SEABL’s east conference – Sandringham, Geelong and Dandenong.
“We set a new goal with our last seven games, we’ve just played two of them and now we’re two and zip… you do pencil them in for a win.
“It needs to happen and we’ve done that,” Harvey said.
“The next three weeks…we want to come third, that’s where we want to be. Get a home court final and move on from there.
“It’s really a good build-up and a good test to play the best teams. That’s what we need, we need to be challenged now.
“Even (Saturday) night we were only 11 points up at half-time.
“I had a very, very emotional speech at half-time to get our guys going. I was saying every game now is a finals basketball game to keep third spot.”
The Braves responded to Harvey’s half-time plea with a 32-15 third term and a 27-19 final quarter against the Thunder.
Adam Tanner was Bendigo’s MVP with 24 points and eight rebounds, while Tom Garlepp sunk 22 points and hauled-in four boards.
Point guard Kevin Probert ran the floor well with 14 points and six assists.
The Braves shot at more than 50 per cent accuracy from the field and beyond the three-point perimeter, compared to the Thunder’s 31 per cent.
Harvey was pleased to record such a comprehensive win, despite the limited influence of US import Deilvez Yearby, who had eight points and 10 rebounds.
Meanwhile, the Champions IGA Lady Braves responded from last week’s disappointing loss to Canberra to defeat Launceston 73-64.
“The good thing is Dandenong above us lost and Sandringham behind us lost as well, in games they probably should have won,” Lady Braves coach Lukas Carey said.
“It almost erases last weekend’s disappointing result and it gives us a shot at continuing to push to hold that third spot.”
Renae Camino (25 points), Mia Newley (15 points, 11 rebounds) and Madeleine Garrick (13 points, 12 rebounds) led the way on the scoreboard, but Lucy Dawson and Melissa Smith’s stopping role on Tayla Roberts was crucial according to Carey.
“We kept Tayla Roberts - who is the second-leading rebounder in the league - to half-a-dozen rebounds.
“The two of them did a fantastic job,” Carey said.
“After last week giving up 24 offensive rebounds, we gave up five for the game – there’s your game right there.”
Bendigo burst out of the blocks to take a 21-12 lead at the first break, but only led by six points at the main change.
However, a 19-point to 11 third term in favour of the Lady Braves put the result beyond doubt against a team which has won just seven of 24 matches this season.
The Lady Braves dominated rebounds 47-31, but most of the other statistics were marginal one way or the other.
The Lady Braves face a mammoth task at home against Knox on Friday night, with the Raiders, led by former Lady Brave point guard Kelly Wilson, boasting a 19-1 win-loss record in the south conference.
As with the men, the Lady Braves then face a trip to Brisbane on Saturday night which is followed by three matches against the other three top four east conference teams – Sandringham, Geelong and Dandenong in the run to the finals.
“But we’ve got to take the challenge,” said Carey.
“The destiny’s in our hands which is the beauty of it.”