Eastern Mavericks senior teams hosted the West Adelaide Bearcats last Saturday night at the Adelaide Hills Recreation Centre in Round 18 Central Australian Basketball League action.The fixture was the final minor rounds game for the teams before the finals series commence.
For the Mavericks women the mission was clear cut … a victory would guarantee a berth in the elimination final against the Central District Lions, while a loss would require Centrals to defeat the Southern Tigers at Noarlunga for the Lady Mavs to achieve a finals berth.
After a brilliant opening against West where Eastern led 13-4 after only three minutes and 40 seconds of play, the wheels fell off for the locals when the Bearcats out scored Eastern  35-13 over the next 11 minutes of play.
After a time-out to stem the flow of baskets, the Eastern Mavericks responded to the instructions from coach Nathon Jones.
Against the trend of play, Eastern fought back into the match and edged clear by the slimmest of margins to lead 60-59 at the three-quarter time break.
As has been the case in recent matches for the Mavericks women, the final quarter turned into a titanic struggle.Just 52 seconds remained when Trudy Holland scored for the Bearcats, and also converted a foul shot which was awarded, edging the visitors clear 72-69, and West were able to hold possession and run down the game clock, securing only a fourth win of the season 72-70.
Fortunately for the Mavericks women, all was not lost in the defeat, as the Centrals women were convincing 81-55 winners over the Tigers.
The Tigers loss guaranteed the Lady Mavericks a place in this season’s final series after ending their 2011 campaign without a win.

For the full report, see the print issue of The Courier.