Sport
2 October, 2023
Maryborough coaches gear up for 2023/24 season opener this weekend
Maryborough Blazers basketball is back with a vengeance for 2023, with a revamped program looking to get the men’s and women’s teams back on top after premiership wins in 2019/20 and 2021/22 respectively. The men’s team will again be led by...
Maryborough Blazers basketball is back with a vengeance for 2023, with a revamped program looking to get the men’s and women’s teams back on top after premiership wins in 2019/20 and 2021/22 respectively.
The men’s team will again be led by nine-time MVP Brady Neill, while Faith McKenzie will be taking over the reins of the women’s team.
For McKenzie, this will be her first foray coaching in the Country Basketball League (CBL), having previously coached junior teams in Horsham, which could play to her advantage with a youthful Blazers lineup.
“Earlier this year, I had the Maryborough Blazers reach out and ask if I was interested in coaching. I’m dating Lachie Drummond, who is playing there at the moment. I did some junior coaching back in
Horsham, and I thought I’d love to see what it is all about and coach the team,” she said.
“We have a great group of girls that we’ve had at training and tryouts. We should be competitive and eyeing off finals this season.”
McKenzie says a large core have stuck around with the Blazers, but they’ve lost guard Millie Cracknell owing to a new points system. Local talent, therefore, remains the key to competitiveness.
“We still have Maddy Egan playing, Charlotte Cain and Emma Pedretti have stayed on. A lot have, but with the new points system, it’s difficult to keep the likes of Millie Cracknell, so she isn’t coming back. Unfortunately, with her NBL1 experience this year, we just didn’t have the points allocated,” she said.
“We have Maggie Tranter and Keely Hare back, so we still have some locals playing as well.”
McKenzie says the focus for the team has been shooting and gaining outside shots, with much of the team’s focus last season relying on the prowess inside the paint from Egan and previous coach Claire Blower.
“We’ve been getting our eye in on shooting and it’s exciting. It will take a game or so for everything to fall into place and click, but we’ll give it a red-hot crack for the season ahead,” she said.
The Blazers will need to find their touch early, given that they have four games in the first three rounds, including tough encounters against the Bendigo Braves, who knocked the Blazers out in the first week of finals last season, as well as the Melton Thoroughbreds.
McKenzie says protecting home court will be the key.
“The goal is always a premiership, but essentially, we’d also like to have fun and develop our skills,” she said.
“We have a few hard games first-up, and we have four games in three weeks at this stage. We need to use our home-court advantage and get the win in those games.”
For Neill, the season goal is quite simple, as his team looks to avenge missing out on the finals last time in heartbreaking circumstances, with the Victorian floods cancelling winnable games.
“It was disappointing with how we missed out last year. We’ve made the finals the last few years, so we want to get back and we feel that we have a pretty good list this year with some good recruits, existing talents, and youth coming through the system,” he said.
Headlining the list of recruits is talented young Ballarat guard Zac Dunmore, who has seen regular minutes in the Ballarat Miners’ NBL1 setup.
Neill says Dunmore will lead the way, particularly for the Blazers’ younger group of players, while other recruits are also defensively-minded.
“Zac is an exceptional talent, with what he’s been able to do with Ballarat in NBL1. He’s brought his expertise back to us and help out everyone on the floor. His ability to find teammates and make our plays better will be awesome for us. He’ll be leading our scoring every week,” he said.
“We also have Lochlan Ollering, who has played with Lachie Drummond in Ballarat. He is raw, but has athletic ability, loves it on the defensive end, and gets to the rack really hard.
“Carly Baptiste is a big body, good defender and sets really good picks. He plays the fundamentals, and his ability to defend multiple positions is crucial for us.
“Elijah McKenzie is a 15-year-old, and he has brothers that have ability just like he does, with one in America at the moment. He has super talent and super ability. The ability to play in a men’s system will help his body develop and his basketball as well.”
Neill is also ready to see breakout seasons from the likes of Bailey Jacobs and Kynan Carter, as well as the continued development of young point guard Ky Swards.
“Bailey had a super season at Ballarat. His back half in the youth program was incredible, he was scoring the ball well and shooting really well. I’m excited to see what he can do,” he said.
“Kynan has had a good pre-season, and you can see his game improving. He’s done a lot of work by himself. With his size, he can spread the floor well.
“Another junior we have is Ky Swards, a young point guard who plays in Ballarat. He’s played a lot of junior basketball in Maryborough, and he’s learning behind Zac and what it takes to be a premier point guard. He’ll only flourish.”
Neill says while Maryborough is up against some bigger associations in the CBL, their togetherness and ability will hold them in good stead.
“We know that we’re up against it, seeing the size of teams like Melton, Bendigo and Mildura, who have huge associations that almost match our town population, and we have to compete against them. But one thing we can do is enjoy playing with one another. We like what we do, and that’s where we’ve been successful in the past,” he said.
“Making top four is the focus, and then anything can happen, as we’ve been there before. Getting those wins early and trying to knock down a couple of the big teams is a focal point for us.”
The Blazers’ season starts this Saturday against the Bendigo Braves at the Maryborough Sports and Leisure Centre, with the women starting at 5 pm and men at 7 pm.