Lady Cobras reign supreme

By Ben Turner
AFTER an emotional season for the entire Kilsyth community, the Club Kilsyth Lady Cobras have become the 2008 SEABL Champions.
From fourth on the ladder and road wins against Launceston and Bendigo, the Lady Cobras defeated Nunawading 90-73 to win the clubs third Women’s SEABL Championship.
When the club was rocked by the sudden passing of club figurehead Hugh McMenamin in early April the Lady Cobras Season could have gone in either direction. But with Hugh’s daughter Erica McMenamin leading the way, the team become closer than ever.
Written off many times throughout the Season, the Lady Cobras stuck together, building a self-belief that they could beat any team.
The team, which includes eight players who, played their juniors years at Kilsyth, now has two of the hottest commodities outside the Australian Institute of Sport.
Clare Papavs and Sarah Parsons jumped into the spotlight in 2008 and in the progress helped deliver the SEABL title to Kilsyth. Papavs won the Barbara Barton Medal as the Grand Final MVP, a well-deserved honour after an amazing finals series.
An inspired Lady Cobras team hit the floor running in the opening term as Desiree Glaubitz (27pts, 6rbds) and Nunawading’s Jenna O’Hea (24pts, 12rbds) went basket for basket in the opening minutes trying to steal the ascendancy for their team.
O’Hea won the opening battle finishing the quarter with 10 points as her team took a 25-20 quarter time lead.
Coach Jason Knight preached the defensive rotations at quarter time, letting his team know they couldn’t allow O’Hea to have her way with them.
Glaubitz once again had the opening bucket of the quarter as Papavs (22pts, 7rbds) found her range from behind the arc.
Papavs finished the second term with 10 points and the go ahead basket with four minutes remaining in the half, as the Lady Cobras began to build their lead. A Gemma Kerr three point shot extended the lead to nine with two minutes to play. After the Spectres stole the ball with 12 secs to go and converted on the break, the margin for seven points going into the half.
After a quiet term O’Hea looked to lift her teammates in the third and hit two three point basket to start the quarter, cutting the Lady Cobras lead to three.
Right on queue, it was Glaubitz who stood up again hitting the opening basket as Kilsyth once again began building a lead. As she did against Bendigo, Kerr hit a massive three point shot with six minutes remaining to extend the lead to nine points, handing the Lady Cobras all the momentum. After Papavs backed it up with another the margin was 12 and Kilsyth looked to be cruising to victory.
Nunawading got the margin back to 10 points but never got any closer as the Lady Cobras extending the final margin to 17.
After executing the final minutes of the game to perfection, the Lady Cobras celebrated, winning their first SEABL Championship for Kilsyth since 2002.
The Lady Cobras Season is not over yet, with Kilsyth now earning a place in the Australian Basketball Club Championship National Finals. First up will be a home game against the winner of the Central ABA on Saturday 23rd August. A win will send them through to the Final Four weekend at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre. All Lady Cobras fans are asked to be at Kilsyth Stadium to help the girls win their quarter final Saturday week, as they look to add a National Title to the SEABL Championship.