BSBL women’s: Ladder-leaders Tornadoes Red outlast Aces Sky in three-point thriller

Tornadoes Red maintained their place at the top of the Bunbury Senior Basketball League women’s A-grade competiton at South West Sports Centre on Friday night, outlasting Aces Sky to win a thriller by three points.

Scores were knotted in the dying stages of the last term as fourth-placed Sky pushed their more-fancied opponents all the way to the final buzzer but a late three-point shot from Red’s Isabella Andrew saw the ladder-leaders come away with a 74-71 victory.

The result has seen Red all but seal their place in the qualifying final, with the winners holding a one-win buffer over compatriots Tornadoes Black and being two ahead third-placed Bulls Gold with two weeks left in the regular season.

But in what bodes as a good sign that the finals series will be highly competitive, Sky produced a performance which showed they are capable of matching the competition’s best sides.

The league’s leading scorer Grace Adams and young gun Jean Coyle both scored 21 points for Red, forming a potent trio with Andrew, who hit the game’s biggest shot among 19 of her own.

Grace Lawler and Catherine Hough both scored 18 points to pace Sky’s offensive effort.

Red took the early initiative to lead by five points in the opening stages of the first term but the two sides were not separated by more than a few baskets from that point onwards.

Sky led by one point at quarter-time, scores were knotted at the main break and Red led by the most slender of margins at three-quarter-time, showing the closeness of the contest.

The other fixture saw second-placed Black win over fifth-placed Conquerors by forfeit.