A grand final rematch always draws a crowd.
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Seymour has had a shaky start of the 2023 North-East Country Basketball League season and a doubleheader against the two best teams in the league provided the Blasters with their biggest test yet.
Seymour welcomed second-placed Myrtleford to the Seymour Sports and Aquatic Centre on Saturday night.
The visitors were at their best, handing the Blasters their third loss.
Seymour then travelled to Shepparton Sports Stadium with a steely determination to right the previous day’s wrongs.
The Blasters played out of their skin in the grand final rematch, defeating Benalla, the first team to do so in 2023.
Blasters captain Robbie Sartori admitted his team had not focused on getting the job done against Benalla.
“It was a big weekend for us. So you know, to be honest, we hadn’t really spoken too much about the Benalla game,” Sartori said.
“We had more focus on the Myrtleford game because we just knew we needed to get at least one win out of the two for the weekend.
“We spoke very briefly after the game on Saturday about what we needed to do on Sunday, which was a similar sort of game plan to what we played against them last year.
“They have got the exact same squad or a very similar squad (to last year).
“So it was pretty much the exact same (plan). Mix up our defence, takeaway their streaks.
“When you know a team inside out, as they know us inside out, you’ve just got to take away what they are good at, and we managed to do that in the end.”
In the first game of the doubleheader, the Blasters allowed the Saints to get off to a strong start.
The away side outscored the Blasters by 11 points in the first quarter.
Seymour regrouped at quarter-time and went toe-to-toe with Myrtleford in the second spell.
Both sides put 23 points on the board.
After the long break, Seymour looked to be in control.
Keenan Gorski had more freedom to score and Sartori found his rhythm.
With one quarter to go, a deficit of nine points stood between Seymour and victory.
But, the Saints regrouped and controlled the last spell.
Ryley Bouker and Jalen Barker dominated the scoring as the away side recorded an 102-87 victory.
The Hume Fwy derby — albeit held in Shepparton — was Seymour’s second challenge of the weekend.
While the Blasters had struggled to find consistent form since their grand final victory, the Breakers had not suffered defeat since the decider.
But all good things must come to an end.
Seymour and Benalla went shot for shot in the first quarter and neither side could pull away.
The scoreboard read 15-all at the end of the first quarter.
Seymour stepped up after the break, controlling the play against the league leader.
Youngster Eden Hobbs stepped up to the occasion and hit the scoreboard regularly.
Seymour led the Breakers by seven points at half-time.
The Blasters continued to pull ahead in the third quarter and had a lead of ten points going into the final spell.
Where Seymour looked spent in the final quarter effort against the Saints, the Blasters looked invigorated against Benalla.
Seymour dominated the final spell, nearly doubling the Breakers’ efforts.
Benalla might top the league, but against its grand final adversaries, the result was the same.
Seymour won 73-54.
Hobbs led the scoring with 20 points on the board.
Vice-captain Jack Murphy was second best with 14 points.
Benalla’s talisman Lachlan Kego was kept relatively quiet, only scoring 13 points.
Seymour travels to Wallan on Saturday night as the side looks to keep its finals hopes alive.
“He’s (Eden Hobbs) been huge. He showed us last year that he was going to come on really quickly,” Sartori said.
“His work ethic this year, not just at training but off the floor as well, has been second to none.
“His athleticism has been unmatched by some teams; they just can’t go with him.
“From the start of the game, Jack Murphy set the tone at the offensive end, and then Harry Stones was definitely setting the tone at the defensive end, matching up on their main scorer.
“The old adage is just, take it one week at a time.
“We’ve played most of our games away. We’ve got a strong run of games at home (coming up).
“Our draw is pretty tough; we’ve got Shepparton twice and Wallan twice, two of the better teams, and that’s a real challenge for us, which is great because at the end of the day, if you can’t beat the best teams, you don’t deserve to be there.
“This weekend will be a huge game for us.”