Borrego and company win battle of the Birds
ADELAIDE, Australia (CMC) — Carla Borrego overshadowed compatriot Romelda Aiken, when the Adelaide Thunderbirds cemented their place in the top-four of the ANZ Championship with a 53-51 victory over the Queensland Firebirds on Sunday at ETSA Park here.
Borrego, the leading goal-shooter in the Championship, helped to give the T-birds a strong start, and finished with 38 goals from 41 attempts.But Aiken responded with 32 from 39, and aided the Firebirds in pegging back a big first-quarter deficit before they ran out of time in an exciting finish.
The T-birds are third in the Championship on 10 points with a match in hand behind the New South Wales Swifts, on 16, and the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic, on 14. The Firebirds are sixth on eight points.
Borrego got into some good positions under the hoop, and goal attack Kate Beveridge sunk some long-range bombs, as the T-birds rocketed into the first break with a 17-9 lead.
The T-birds extended their lead to 11 early in the second period, as Aiken and goal attack Natalie Medhurst faced big pressure from Geva Mentor and Mo’onia Gerrard to establish good shooting positions in the circle.
Gradually, the T-birds’ grip on the match weakened, following some positional changes from the Firebirds, but they still led comfortably 29-27 at the halftime break.
Borrego and Beveridge continued to shoot confidently to help the T-birds maintain their lead at the end of the third period at 44-37, but the Firebirds had their moments, pegging the deficit back to five at one stage with Aiken and Medhurst getting better delivery, and their accuracy rate increasing.
In the final stanza, the Firebirds created some valuable opportunities for themselves by forcing the T-birds into a number of turnovers.
Borrego and her teammates held their nerve however, with Mentor and Gerrard providing some big defence to stave off the strong-finishing Firebirds.
Jamaica goalkeeper Althea Byfield and her Auckland, New Zealand-based Northern Mystics were out of action having drawn a bye, but she, Borrego, and Aiken will all start in next weekend’s matches.The Mystics host leaders New South Wales Swifts of Australia at The Trusts Stadium on Saturday, and the T-birds welcome the Canterbury Tactix of New Zealand to ETSA Park on Sunday, but the Firebirds travel to the Energy Events Centre in Rotorua New Zealand, where they face the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic today.
