The Raiders under-18 development squad push past the Infernos to stay in the hunt to play ABA A-grade finals

The Raiders under-18 development squad snapped a four-game losing streak in the Albany Basketball Association women’s A-grade competition, cruising to an emphatic 13-point win over the Infernos. The Raiders bounced back from a crushing result last week to finish as 30-17 winners, taking a huge scalp in a fast-paced round-12 affair on Tuesday night. The Raiders are still a chance to play finals, sitting in sixth place with a points average of 1.6 but within touch of the fourth placed Infernos (1.9) with four rounds left to play. Dakota Bremner led the way for the Raiders but they had scoring options everywhere with eight of their nine players hitting the scoresheet. Bremner finished with eight points while Emily Gadean (six points) and Imojen Gill (five) also contributed strongly in the upset result. Both sides grappled for the ascendancy in the early stages but the Raiders peeled out to a three-point advantage. Silky guard Milla Trichilo found herself open at the top of the arc and she rattled in a long range three-pointer to open up a 10-4 lead towards the end of the first half. Gadean was outstanding in the first half while Bremner did most of the scoring towards the end. The Infernos Jorja Ward tried valiantly in the defeat to bury two three-pointers on her way to 11 points. Summer Stirling added four points. However, the momentum was firmly in the Raiders favour for the majority of the affair and the Infernos fell well short of the mark, losing 17-30. Meanwhile the Barking Owls dropped their first game of the season against rivals the Griffins with Danielle Carne exploding with a 15-point performance in the 51-39 result. All of Carne’s points were field goals but she had plenty of support from Emma Henderson from deep, nailing two triples on her way to nine points. Narelle Humphries (17) proved a dominant scoring option in the paint for the Owls while Rebecca Benson hit three triples on her way to 11 points. The win pushed the Griffins on top of the ladder ahead of the Owls, both teams having stitched up a finals spot with four rounds left to play. The Railways Tigers remain winless in the A-grade competition, falling short 23-36 against the Sonics Blue in the final A-grade fixture. Telikah Collins (15) and Georgia Clark (11) finished as the top scorers in the rout that keeps the Sonics Blue fifth on the ladder and in the hunt to play finals.