With finals quickly closing in, the Mavericks desperately needed to come away with the four points, wishing to keep their finals hopes alive.
The Sunshine Coast Lightning, however, were not going to let the Mavericks steal their position in the top four without a fight.
Unfortunately for the Mavericks, Molly Jovic remained ruled out for this game, unable to travel with the squad to Hobart with concussion troubles. This, however opened the door for Tayla Fraser to come into the starting seven in the Centre bib, to take the game by storm, and have Montana Holmes on the bench.
Q1: 18-20, Mavs down
Both teams came out strong, with the Lightning able to create turnover balls early, building themselves a minor lead.
The Mavs were connecting with Shimona Jok and Eleanor Cardwell early, with Cardwell’s range on point, rehearsing for the final five minutes of play.
As expected, the Parmenter and Watson matchup was heated. Both athletes attempted to dominate the circle edge and never gave up space without a fight, a true testament to their dedication to their respective teams. A fumble from Watson, however, handing a ball straight into Parmenter, saw our team captain get the edge over Watson in the first.
An ankle injury scare saw Manu’a come on to replace Lewis, immediately adding to the intensity of the defending circle.
Up the other end of the court, with Bruce often out hunting, Jok was left home alone much to the Maverick’s style of play, allowing them to keep the scoreline neck and neck.
POWER 5:
Come the power five, Steph Fretwell took a two point shot almost the second the buzzer set off, and then took another later in the quarter.
For the majority of the play, the Mavs were happy to take the ones and keep themselves within reach of the Lightning. With Liv Lewis deemed fit to play and injecting herself back into the game, she came up with an immediate intercept.
This ignited the team and not long afterward a tip from Parmenter saw Fraser collect the scraps and soon enough the Mavs had Cardwell shoot her first two-point shot, bringing the game back within two, and the centre pass to go.
The Mavericks finished the first quarter just two goals down to the Lightning, and the pressure was only building.
Q2: 34-27, Mavs down
The second quarter did not go as well as planned by the Mavericks, with a few unforced errors causing the scoreline to blow out more than they might have liked. However, if there is one understanding amongst the team, it is that they never give up, and so they kept pushing all the way to half time.
Parmenter was putting immense amounts of pressure on Watson each and every centre pass, keeping her Nissan Net Points to a minimum in the first half of the game. The Mavs could only be described as, in the best way possible, pestering the Lightning, contesting every ball and making each player on the court work harder than they ever have previously.
An incredible intercept from Kim Jenner saw the Mavericks back within two, and the Mavs patience to post was textbook.
An absolute superstar was Tayla Fraser in the first half, capitalising on her court time and proving that she is a force to be reckoned with with eight feeds, seven-goal assists, one gain, one intercept and one deflection. There was nothing stopping this pocket rocket from tearing it up on the court!
A few moments of back and forth saw fumbles from both sides, however, the Lightning were able to capitalise further on the mistakes of the Mavs, and begin to push out the score line in their favour.
POWER Five:
The Power Five saw Nanikvell absolutely dominate the circle edge, and perfectly placed the ball into her goalers every opportunity she had, sitting on seven feeds and five goal assists for the quarter.
Cardwell took one supershot this quarter, and the fans in Hobart absolutely loved her for it!
The hands over defence from Lewis and Jenner in this period of play was crucial, and both forced Koenen and Fretwell to miss their shots, coming up with the ball for the Mavs, who’s desperation and eagerness to get the win was clear in their determination down court.
Fretwell also shot one supershot this quarter, in true fashion.
The Mavs, despite their best efforts, came away with the scoreboard reading 27-34 at the conclusion of the first half, despite only losing the quarter itself 16-17.
Q3: 54-53, Mavs down
The third quarter was absolute dynamite from both sides, both of which could smell their place in the top four solidifying at the conclusion of the match.
With the Mavericks able to convert and score quickly, capitalising on some coach killing mistakes from the Lightning, it was clear that this game was going to be won by the team that could be the most clinical and advantageous with the ball.
Cardwell and Jok were both shooting with confidence, not having missed a single shot for the game. This once allowed the Mavericks to confidently start chipping away at the scoreline.
Jenner got an incredible tip from a shot at the hand of Fretwell, also collecting a deflection and a gain that ended with the Mavericks coming back within one goal.
Eventually, Jok levelled the score to 40 goals a piece, and the crowd went wild.
A few more dangerous errors in miscommunication from the Mavericks behalf, largely coming down to their inexperience together as a side, allowed the Lightning to keep their lead, however, once again the Mavericks were far from finished.
Despite their dip in momentum, the Mavs clawed their way back. Fraser’s work rate took to a whole new level, and despite this she still had an extreme sense of calm down the attacking end of the court.
POWER 5:
Not long into the power five a timeout was called from the Mavs.
Head Coach, Tracey Neville reminded her team that they “have to be disciplined” should they wish to win the game.
Fraser was given a warning fro disputing the calls made down the defensive end of the court and was taken off, despite her stellar performance, to cool down, allowing Montana Holmes in her second game for the Mavericks to take the Centre bib for a spin.
Nothing was stopping Cardwell, however, as she slotted yet another super shot for her side.
Being the true leader that she is, Amy Parmenter took an incredible gain for her side, giving them the chance to lock up the game once again. With the momentum swinging to the team in blue, the turnover balls just kept on coming, and the Maverick’s trust in their quick transition down the court allowed them to eventually take the lead, and eventually, get out by two goals.
At the conclusion of this passage of play, the experienced Australian Diamond in Fretwell shone through as she cemented a supershot that got her team back within two goals, followed by Batcheldor’s super shot that tied up the game.
The Mavericks ended up one goal down at the third quarter siren erupted, and the game far far from complete.
Q4:
Tracey Neville was captured telling her team to keep their “eyes on the prize all the time.”
Coming into the final quarter, the Mavericks were clearly prepared to put everything on the line.
Jok continues to present and shoot consistently, with Courtney Bruce unable to shake her. Tayla Fraser came back on in the Centre position, and once again took the game head-on, ready to shake up the likes of Leesa Mi Mi.
Manu’a was sent to Goal Keeper to add further physicality to the game. However, the scoreline was one-for-one for a lot of the quarter, with the intensity lifting each time the ball was sent through the net.
POWER 5:
The final power play period for the game is where the heat was brought. Cardwell was sent to the bench, allowing hot shot, Gabby Sinclair to don the Goal Attack bib, looking to shoot as exceptionally as she has been in previous weeks.
Jenner, despite slamming herself straight into the goal post, rattled Koenen enough to force a miss, allowing the Mavericks to take an early lead.
In what felt like deja vu for everyone, a footwork call against Fretwell allowed the Mavs to lock up the game, desperately in need of some two point shots to get them over the line, just the same as last time these two teams met all the way back in round four.
Cardwell was welcomed back into Goal Shooter, just as Fretwell stepped up for her side and slotted another two-point shot.
An unusual miss from Cardwell turned the fans, benches and player’s stomachs inside out as the Lightning brought the ball down the court. For a split second, the game flashed before the eyes of the Mavs.
The Lightning brought immense pressure, however, nothing was going to stop Gabby Sinclair and her super shot capabilities, bringing the game back within one.
A late contest from Courntey Bruce down the Mavs scoring end saw the penalty the Mavs needed to win them the game, and with the ball once again in the safe hands of Sinclair, just as it had been in round four, she slotted the winning goal.
Celebrations erupted in MyStateBank Arena as the Mavericks took their second victory over the Sunshine Coast Lightning, keeping their finals chances alive, and giving them a boost of confidence coming into the GIANTS and Fever over the next couple of rounds.
POST-MATCH WRAP:
Tayla Fraser took home best on court, with a whopping 106 Nissan Net Points stemming from her 21 goal assists, gain, intercept and deflection. No doubt she dominated the court this game and had an absolute blinder for her side.
She noted; [The team is] “really starting to come together.”
“Amy Parmenter as our leader is taking us in such a good direction… she is really bringing us all along and creating this Mavs family… We are building every week.”
Cardwell also spoke after the game, and noting that the team want nothing more than to make finals, however also discussed her love of Tracey Neville in that;
“She gives a lot of passion, she knows all our strengths, and she knows we are still building and understands that.”
Tracey Neville, too, spoke after the game, clearly very proud of her team.
“They kept in the game… you’ve got to keep in the moment and they lived that moment right til the end.”
“Sometimes they break my heart in some of the things they do… [but] I’m really proud and [have] so much love for this team.”
Neville ended by stating that the team “work hard every single day” and “take each game as it comes.”
Leading into next week’s clash against the GIANTS, the Mavs will need to put in the hard yards if they plan on keeping their finals hopes alive and owning that fourth position on the SSN ladder.
NEXT GAME:
The Mavericks will take on the GIANTS next Saturday, July 6, 5:00 AEST, Ken Rosewall Arena.
