BUOYED by three-straight SEABL wins, Bendigo Braves have turned their focus to a crucial home game against Geelong Supercats that could define their season.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Wins last weekend against reigning national champions Mount Gambier in Bendigo and Albury-Wodonga on the road have catapulted the 9-5 Braves into fifth spot on the league ladder, amid a log-jam of teams battling for eight final spots.
While Kilsyth and Nunawading continue to lead the way at 11-3, little separates the next eight teams on the ladder, bookended by third-placed Ballarat at 10-5 and 10th-placed North West Tasmania 8-7.
In a league where they are simply no easy games, Braves point guard Indiana Faithfull could not place enough importance on the team’s looming Friday night clash against the Supercats.
“Geelong, right now, is kind of at the same point in the season as we are,” he said.
“Until the last few weeks, they’d probably have thought they were a team which was under-achieving a bit like us, but the last two or three weeks they have really found form.
“Friday night will be a great test for us, which is pretty exciting.
“A really cool thing about this league this year is there are not too many standouts, every game you really have to fight for.
“Geelong beat Kilsyth on the weekend, which was an outstanding result for (the Supercats), but there are no cake walks and you have to be ready to play.”
A pleasing feature of last Saturday’s win against Albury-Wodonga for Faithfull was the team’s ability to dig deep without their co-captain Chris Hogan (unavailable) and also Jeremy Kendle following his ejection late in the third quarter.
“It probably wasn’t our best game, but credit to Albury-Wodonga, they really came out hard and were very hungry,” he said.
“Perhaps a few weeks ago we might have just folded, but credit to us we’ve stuck together and grinded out two wins.
“We would have loved to have finished the game with Jeremy on the court, but it’s definitely a positive that other guys were able to step up and get the win without him.”
Ray Turner was a standout with 39 points and six rebounds.
Faithfull himself has responded from his omission in the starting five against Canberra the previous weekend and has averaged 10.6, six rebounds and four assists in his last three games.
“We weren’t playing well and obviously (coach Ben) Harvey has to try something, but I just wanted to focus on what I do well, which is bring energy and leadership,” he said.
“But it wasn’t just me, we’ve all responded.”