Werribee Devils will leap into the unknown after bowing out of the Big V women’s division 1 playoffs at the weekend.
The Devils were out of their depth against minor premiers Geelong Supercats, swept 2-0 in a best-of-three semi-final series.
The 68-52 game two loss to the Cats in Geelong on Saturday night was the last for this Devils line-up.
Co-captain Lisa Troyahn and former skipper Emma Coyne had already informed coach Lloyd Klaman it would be their last outing, while other veterans such as Jodi Impey, Sharon Plichta and Elisha Burnette are in doubt for next season.
It will be a totally different outfit when the players meet for the first pre-season training session in summer.
While it was a disappointing way to farewell some of the club’s greats, Klaman was quick to remind us how far this team had come – making the finals after it was promoted from division 2 only 12 months ago.
“All the pre-season polls were picking us to finish in the bottom three, so I’m happy to play in the finals,” the coach said. “We got the most out of our team that we could, but in the end Geelong was better.
“In both games we hung on like grim death for a half, but good teams will punish you if you don’t play for 40 minutes.”
The Devils led by one at half time but crashed and burned on the back of one-from-17 from the field in the third quarter.
The match was won and lost on the boards with the under-sized Devils gifting too many second-chance points.
“We got smashed in the rebounding,” Klaman said, pointing to the 51-30 discrepancy.
Devils fans got a glimpse into the future with Maddison Rocci, Brittany Klaman and Teaghan Doyle getting court time.
Rocci, fresh from representing Australia at the under-17 world championships, has adapted well to the transition from youth basketball.
“Since she’s come back from the worlds she’s been great,” Klaman said. “It’s a little different for her playing against the older women because they’re mean and nasty.
“She took some bumps; all the girls knew who she was and she had a target on her head.”
Klaman is yet to discuss with the Werribee Basketball Association whether he will remain coach of the women’s team next year, but he wants dialogue to open sooner rather than later.
“Whoever is coaching will need to get an early start,” he said. “If all the veterans retire, the oldest girl in the team will be 19, so that’s a big gap.
“There’s a lot of young kids coming through but unfortunately they’re mostly guards … they’re definitely going to have to find some bigs from somewhere next year.”
