Harry Stones top-scored for Seymour in the defeat. Photos: Wayne Herring.
Seymour’s stunning campaign in the Country Basketball League North East Men’s competition has come to a shattering close, with the Blasters bundled out by Wodonga at the weekend just one game shy of the grand final.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Hosting the Wolves for the semi-final clash at Seymour Sports and Aquatic Centre on Saturday night due to their second-placed ladder position after the regular season, the Blasters headed into the contest as favourites, especially considering the 18-point victory they enjoyed over their opponent during the final home-and-away round.
But it was Wodonga that came out swinging, putting together a huge first term off the back of a clinical Eric Miraflores performance to race out to an 18-12 lead at quarter-time and leave the home side stunned.
With the home crowd behind it, however, Seymour showed it was up for the challenge, and set about chasing down the Wolves in the second term.
Usual suspects Patrick Green and William Stewart were among the scorers, but it was Harry Stones who top-scored in the second term, putting up seven points to help reel back most of the deficit the Blasters had conceded early.
With a 23-18 second term, Seymour was well and truly back in the contest by the half, although it was Wodonga that held the slimmest of leads, up 36-35 with two quarters to play.
Thomas O'Connor converts a free throw.
The cracking contest wore on in the third with both sides scrapping away with a spot in the decider on the line, and while scoring dropped, Seymour found an extra point to ensure things were all tied up at 49-49 heading into the final quarter.
Such an enthralling battle for the majority of the contest deserved a fitting finale, and while Seymour had done remarkably well to drag itself back into the contest after a slow start, that extra effort appeared to take its toll in the last term.
It was Miraflores who again inflicted pain on to the Blasters with a term-high eight points in the final quarter, supported by strong contributions by Caleb Wharepapa and Mason Harris, as Wodonga proved too tough to overcome, claiming a hard-fought 78-69 win.
William Stewart takes it to the rim.
Stones led the way in terms of scoring for the Blasters, finishing with 17 points, while Stewart (14), Green (12) and Thomas O’Connor (10) all put up double digits.
It is a disappointing conclusion for the Blasters, who were the form side for much of the season and finished second with an 8-2 regular season record and the highest percentage of any side, however their loss was not the biggest upset of the two semi-finals.
Jesse Brock makes a contested lay-up.
Wallan, which finished with an imposing 9-1 record, was overcome by fourth-placed Albury (5-5) by two points in a thriller.
The grand final will now be contested by Wodonga and Albury, the sides that finished third and fourth, respectively, after two big boilovers in the first round of finals.
