Geelong United Supercats women’s team qualifies for finals after 2-0 double header
An Ella Tofaeono-inspired Geelong United Supercats women’s team will play finals while the men are still a mathematical chance of post-season action.
The Geelong United Supercats women have secured their place in the NBL1 South finals after going 2-0 in Round 12, while the men are still in with a mathematical chance after splitting their double header, 1-1.
Both games were thrillers for the men, with one-point separating the teams in each fixture.
The women started off with a big win, 84-56, against the Melbourne Tigers at the Geelong Arena on Friday night.
Taking a seven-point lead into quarter time, the Supercats steadily increased their margin, holding the Tigers to just 12 points in the third quarter and finishing strongly in the fourth.
Ella Tofaeono was a beast on the boards, grabbing 20 rebounds to go with 15 points, while Sarah Elsworthy led the scoring with 25 points along with six rebounds, five assists and four steals.
Eve Braslis and Agnieszka Skobel also scored in double figures with 21 and 18 points respectively.
The women backed it up on Saturday night with a 78-69 win over the Frankston Blues on the road.
Tofaeono was again dominant in the paint with 20 points and 18 rebounds to add to her weekend’s total.
Elsworthy was impressive too, leading the scoring with 22 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists.
However, it was a heart breaking one point loss for the Geelong United Supercats men on Friday night, going down 72-71 to the Melbourne Tigers.
Trailing by five points at halftime, Geelong rallied in the third quarter to outscore Melbourne 20-12, taking a three-point lead into the final quarter.
In a closely-fought contest, the Tigers regained control in the final term, an arm wrestle final few minutes leading to a potential game-winner by George Blagojevic on the buzzer falling short and giving Melbourne victory.
Gabe Hadley led the scoring for Geelong with 25 points, while Blagojevic finished with a double double 16 points and 12 rebounds.
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In another close contest on Saturday night, the Supercats pushed the Frankston Blues to overtime.
It was an outstanding performance from Demarcus Gatlin, who finished with 31 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals — the captain icing two free throws at the end of the game to give Geelong the 98-97 win.
Hadley finished the game with 24 points and nine rebounds, while McCarthy notched a double double in the second game with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Originally published as Geelong United Supercats women’s team qualifies for finals after 2-0 double header
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