Queanbeyan Yowies coach Don Stevenson has described tomorrow’s State League finals match at Queanbeyan Basketball Centre as a David v Goliath battle.
And when looking at both side’s history in this competition, you can only agree with him.
It will see Penrith - a sprawling district with a population of 170,000 take on Queanbeyan - a town with 40,000 people.
Two years ago Penrith Panthers beat the Yowies in this same match between the respective western and southern conference champions in an overtime thriller on their home court.
The Panthers have also won this competition for the last three straight years.
“We’re the little guys compared to the Panthers,” Stevenson said.
“They’ve got a much larger playing base to choose from and their facilities are far superior to what we’ve got.
“But we’re hoping we get a result just like the David v Goliath fairytale.”
And Yowies fans have every reason to believe their side can deliver a performance for the history books going off Saturday night’s final pool match away to Moss Vale.
There, the hosts were kept to just two points in the first quarter during Queanbeyan’s barnstorming 79-43 win.
The victory saw the Yowies comprehensively claim the pool B premiers tag after finishing the regular season with 14 wins and just one loss.
The Yowies’ nearest rivals Griffith finished with 11 wins and four losses.
Queanbeyan’s exceptional defensive effort on Saturday night had Stevenson believing his side can repeat the dosage in front of what should be a strong home crowd tomorrow at 5pm.
“We’ve really evolved in the way we attack and the way we defend from when I took over this team at the start of the season,” said Stevenson, who as assistant coach of Canberra Gunners took the side to a South East Australian Basketball League grand final in season 2007/2008.
“Not only that but these boys trust each other.
“They’re always inviting their teammates to off-field birthdays and weddings and they do everything together.
“We’re all good mates here.”
Also in the Yowies’ favour is a large playing roster which has every other State League team looking at it with envy.
“We’ve got such a strong bench,” Stevenson said.
“That’s so positive – it means if we have any foul trouble I’ve got no hesitation injecting a player straight into the game.”
With Stevenson’s athletic side featuring the likes of former Gunners Adam Dell'Aquila and Sam Bresnik who have been in sublime touch all season, he issued the following warning to the travelling Panthers.
“We won’t change our (high tempo) playing style,” he said.
“If Penrith can keep up, good luck to them.
“But that’s the way we’ve played all year.”
Yowies captain Adam Jackson’s game has flourished under Stevenson in what could be his swansong season in a Yowies shirt.
“This year could be my last hurrah,” said the foundation Yowies player.
“This is only our fourth year in the competition and I’d love nothing better than to see a championship banner get put up on our wall.
“This year there’s a real belief we can go all the way.
“If we don’t take out the competition I’d be disappointed.”
A win tomorrow night will see the Yowies just one win away from a grand final appearance.
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff
Twitter