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Gold face challenge to turn around form

Headshot of Mitchell Woodcock
Mitchell WoodcockSouth Western Times
Tre Nichols and Bulls Gold will be looking to drive themselves to this year’s Bunbury Basketball Association grand final.
Camera IconTre Nichols and Bulls Gold will be looking to drive themselves to this year’s Bunbury Basketball Association grand final. Credit: Jon Gellweiler / South Western Times

Bulls Gold will have to turn around their recent poor form against Tornadoes Black tomorrow night if they are to win the second semi-final in the Bunbury Basketball Association.

Gold have lost the last two encounters against the minor premiers, going down by 18 points in round 8 and losing by 21 points in round 15.

Much will rely on Bulls Basketball Club Most Valuable Player Tre Nichols, with his shooting power pivotal to their championship push.

Nichols scored 25 points the last time the two sides met, but was upstaged by former South West Slammer Jason Smith (25 points) and teammate Corey Watkins (24 points), whose combined efforts were too much for Gold’s defence.

Smith’s ability to hit the three-point shot as well as drive well in the key makes him a tough match-up and Gold’s Brynn Francis may need to sacrifice some of his offence to help out at the other end.

The loser of this match will go on to face the winner of Bulls Maroon and the Busselton Bullets, who put their seasons on the line tomorrow night.

Busselton are yet to defeat Bulls Maroon this season, losing their three matches by an average of 14 points, with their most recent contest last weekend the biggest so far.

In a team with stars such as Trent Worthington, Wade Hitchcock and Michael Gliddon, it has been James Goodlad who has troubled Busselton the most, averaging more than 16 points against the Bullets.

In the women’s competition, Tornadoes and Bulls will meet in the second semi-final, with the sides enjoying two victories from four matches.

The contest between Bulls’ Courtney Bayliss and Tornadoes’ Dena English will be the highlight of the night. Bayliss scored 39 points in the Bulls’ round 5 victory, while English averages 21 points against this weekend’s opposition.

In the first semi-final it will be the battle of the clubmates, when Aces Navy take on Aces White. White have not beaten Navy so far this season, with Kate Fielding’s side winning all four clashes by an average of 17 points.

BBA FINALS

Men

7.30pm Second Semi-Final: Tornadoes Black v Bulls Gold

9pm First Semi-Final: Bulls Maroon v Busselton Bullets

Women

7.30pm Second Semi-Final: Bulls v Tornadoes

9pm First Semi-Final: Aces Navy v Aces White

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