Ballarat Rush fall short of unbeaten Frankston Blues, but plenty to like in NBL1 South contest

A young side missing veteran Kristy Rinaldi who was out of the contest with a leg injury, up against a seasoned, unbeaten, opposition.

A quick look at the team sheet prior to the contest showed a Frankston team boasting a core group aged 23-26, while the Rush were predominantly teenagers.

And early days it looked as though Frankston was going to dominate the opposition, much the same way it had in the previous game against Launceston, when it skipped out to an 8-0 start.

But the Ballarat girls are made of tougher stuff, rather than turn up their heels, they knuckled down to the task at hand, eventually going down 61-50.

It wasn't that the Rush were blown away early, while Frankston made the early buckets, the home side missed three or four gettable shots in the opening moments.

Millie Cracknell was the first to find her range, and when she sent down a three pointer on the quarter-time buzzer, it was just a three point differential at the first change.

Once again, Frankston looked the more composed side in the second quarter, but while her stats show just one rebound on the night, the added intensity brought to the Rush line up by Amelia Jarvis offered the home side a spark.

But by half time the experience was starting to take hold with Frankston out to a nine-point lead.

Both teams struggled to find their consistency in the third term, with the Rush girls giving it all but proving to be just off the Blues team which was being led by the likes of Tessa Lavey, who finished the night with 18 points, including going at 50 per cent form the three point line.

Every time the Rush looked to make inroads, Frankston would make the bucket that stalled the momentum.

Frankston looked to put the foot down in the last quarter and at one stage stretched the lead out to 19 points, before Clare Constable got online in the dying moments with triple three pointers to reduce the final margin to 11 at the end of the contest.

Rush head coach Eric Hayes said the first half shooting had cost his side a chance to be in the contest early.

"I think the first half we were shooting at 28 per cent," he said. "I was happy that we got the open looks, but we just didn't take the opportunities when presented.

"Defensively we did such a good job, it gave us a chance to stay in the game.

"I felt pretty confident if we played good solid defence on each individual player and helped each other out when we needed to we were going to be alright, and we did a good job matching up."

Hayes said Rinaldi's injury would be "week-by-week" to see how she pulls up. "We missed her experience, we missed her shooting, we missed everything she brings on the court," he said.

"We had a young one in Milly Sharp step in and she did a good job for an under 18. Amelia Jarvis came on and one thing I know that she'll always do is hustle for the ball and she did a nice job on defence too.

"I feel pretty comfortable about putting them all in, everybody who stepped on and did some positive things."

The Rush next take the court against Ringwood Hawks on Saturday night. Both sides will be looking for a third win on the season. The next home match is against Nunawading on May 29.