Matt Barlow
14 December 2024, 10:07 PM
The Lismore Storm Men's and Women's teams have earned themselves places in Sunday's Sunshine Conference Grand Finals in Byron Bay.
The Women managed to defeat Byron Bay 65-47 in the Minor Semi Final with Kiara Richardson top scoring with 13 points and Emily Simpson, Poppy Latta and Makayla Greensill all adding 10.
In the Major Semi Final, Ballina upset Coffs Harbour 63-58 to move through to the Grand Final, setting up an afternoon Preliminary Final between Coffs Harbour and the Storm.
The Storm came out firing and never looked back, defeating Coffs Harbour 71-62, with Richardson top scoring with 20 points.
This sees a Grand Final clash between Ballina and Lismore, which tips off at 10:00am on Sunday morning.
The Men's side took on the Valley Braves in their Major Semi Final, having not beaten the Bellingen side in their two previous clashes and they took it to them both physically, and on the scoreboard.
In a sometime spiteful match, the Valley side snuck way in the second half to take the win 71-59, with Toby Barlow top scoring with 17, Jordon Pethers had 16 and Zac Knight added 13 points.
The Men then backed up later in the afternoon to take on Byron Bay in the Preliminary Final.
The Storm found their groove early, leading 28-17 at the first break and continued their lead throughout, to eventually take the match 82-61.
Pethers top scored with 20, Kaleb Jeffery and Jye Barlow had 14 and Toby Barlow added 12.
The Men will be out to inflict the ultimate revenge on the Braves by defeating them for the first time in the biggest match of the season, the Grand Final.
The Men's Grand Final is scheduled for 1:00pm in Byron Bay but may start earlier, following the Women's decider.
The Men's and Women's All Star Five were also named during the Finals on Saturday, with the Storm's Kiara Richardson earning a place in the Women's team and Jye Barlow and Jordon Pethers earning places in the Men's All Star Five.
There were several interesting selections in the Men's, with top point scorer Jake McMillan from Coffs Harbour missing out, along with Billy Blair and Jere Imasuen from Byron Bay and Toby Barlow from Lismore. All four players were in the Top 5 in total points and average points per game across the season. It was disappointing not to see some of these players recognised for their outstanding efforts throughout the season.
The Women's All Star Five was much closer to the mark, with Coffs Harbour's Alexis Plater and Kira Juffermans, Byron Bay's Courtney Peate and Ballina's Sasha Oxland joining Richardson in the squad.
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