Women’s basketball round 5: Stateside hold off Trades with free throws at the buzzer for the win

Stateside hit crucial free throws with just four seconds left to take a nail-biting 36-35 win over Trades. The round five match of women’s division 1 in the Geraldton Amateur Basketball Association kicked off on Monday, with Stateside hitting the scoreboard early, going up four before Trades managed a shot. Daisy Whitehurst pulled up with a three which put Trades ahead, but Abbie McDonald quickly got the Scorpions back on track. Stateside went into the quarter break up just two and continued their momentum going into the second. Trades tied it up but Madi Broadhurst hit a close shot to put Stateside back in the lead. McDonald followed up with quick scoring to go up by six points at the end of the half. The sides traded scoring in the third but Stateside never let go of their lead. Immediately coming out in the fourth, Georgia Farley was fouled and sent to the line for two, then Trades capitalised on Stateside’s misses to get back in the game. Holly Baynes hit a big three to put Trades ahead, and both sides started trading the lead with buckets. Kayley King took the ball end-to-end for Trades, which put them up by three with just over a minute left to play. Stateside took it back and Alicia Ponta drew a foul with 40 seconds left, hitting both shots to make it a one-point game. The Scorpions managed to apply defensive pressure on the other end and forced a travel, giving them the ball back and McDonald drew a foul with four seconds remaining. She hit both shots to take the one-point lead and win the game 36-35. In the win, McDonald carried the load for her side, scoring 21 points while Farley had nine points for Trades and Baynes scored seven. In the other match-up, Pumas took care of Olympians 58-38. Olympians took the lead early but Pumas blew past them with high-scoring second and third quarters. Kahlia Morgan dropped 16 points in the win along with Mikenna Shultz and Millie Gerreyn both having 10, while Sharnee Williamson scored 20 points in the loss.