The absence of Australian basketball star Liz Cambage on the court did not dampen spirits at the Minerdome on Friday night, with Bendigo defeating Melbourne Boomers with a buzzer beater in a thrilling spectacle.
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Cambage made her presence felt on the sidelines of the Women’s National Basketball League exhibition match in Ballarat, supporting and offering advice to her Boomer teammates and interacting with the crowd.
But it was not enough to get her team across the line, despite a best on court performance from Boomers development player Ash Grant, who collected 31 points.
Bendigo Spirit coach Simon Pritchard had been hoping to test his players and structures against the ilk of Cambage, a 203cm post player, ahead of the WNBL season.
“(Cambage) is probably a 20-plus point player, so really we lost by 18,” Pritchard joked after the victory.
“But we are going to go into our first game (of the season proper) without having played against a dominant center.”
Pritchard said his group had brought a “really good” energy and vibe to the game.
“We were pretty happy with the execution for the amount of time we put into it,” Pritchard said.
“Rachel (Banham), who has only had one training (session), for her to hit the winning shot for us on the buzzer was really clever.
“I think there was probably some contact in there so for her to stick that shot really lifted the whole group.”
Boomers’ rising youngster Grant said the game had been physically tough, but a good opportunity to put into practice what the team had been working on in training.
Grant said she was yet to play with Cambage in a match setting, but had enjoyed practising with her during training sessions.
But in good news for Ballarat basketball fans, Cambage is set to play some minutes in the Boomers’ next exhibition match against Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence on Saturday.
The game will be played at the Minerdome from 3pm and is a free public event.