After an incredible start to the season for the Central Coast Crusaders women, they received their first defeat in front of a home crowd.
The Crusaders hosted the Canberra Centre of Excellence on Friday, April 26 – team that has historically been one of the strongest in the league.
The women tipped things off first and were out of the gates fast with a 25-15 lead going into the second quarter.
It was the second half where the Crusaders began to fall off as the Centre of Excellence held them to under 10 points in the third quarter.
Every starter on COE’s squad ended the game with at least one steal and this was reflected in the final scoreline of 63-69 as COE stole the road win.
The smothering defence didn’t stop veterans Leilani Mitchell and Mikaela Dombkins from doing their thing as Mitchell led all scores with 21 points while Dombkins scored 19 to go along with her 17 rebounds.
Up next it was the men battling it out in a nail biter with the Crusaders hungry after losing a close one at home just a week before.
The two teams were locked in a tit for tat battle as the Crusaders led the whole way but struggled to pull away.
It was Robbie Heath who iced out the game and hit two big free throws to put the Crusaders up by five to run out the clock.
85-80 was the final score with Robbie Heath continuing his campaign of dominant scoring, finishing with 32 points to lead all scorers and retain his spot as the leading points per game player in the league.
Saturday, April 27, saw day two of the weekend’s double header with the Crusaders hosting rivals Maitland in a matchup that never disappoints.
The women once again tipped things off first as they were hungry to prove that the night before was a stroke of bad luck.
With young star Sara Matthews back from an injury that saw her sit out all of last season, the Crusaders looked strong going into halftime with a 39-30 lead.
It was the big three of Dombkins, Forcadilla and Mitchell who led the charge for the Crusaders, but the win wasn’t going to come easy as the Mustangs made a late comeback to lock the game into overtime.
This was Mitchell’s time to shine as she showed her veteran composure scoring the next 8 out of 12 points for the Crusaders to seal a 79-73 victory for the home crowd.
The men were up next against a Mustangs team against which they haven’t had much success over the last few seasons.
Saturday was no different as the Mustangs put on a clinic led by last year’s MVP of the league Will Cranston.
Robert Heath still managed to get his 30 points in as the Crusaders copped a 76-90 loss at home.
The Crusaders women move up to second place with a 5-1 record while the men remain a respectable 0.500 going 3-3 for the season.
The Crusaders return to Breakers Indoor Sports Stadium on May 11 to host the Canberra Gunners with the men tipping off at 5pm and the women at 7pm.
Stefan Kataric