A FASCINATING clash between two top four hopefuls takes place in tonight’s Victorian Junior Basketball League (VJBL) Under 18 Girls Championship division. Both the Kilsyth Cobras (third, 33 points) and Melbourne Tigers (sixth, 31 points) will be hoping to strike gold and take home the win to further enhance their top four chances. The Tigers have been on fire since joining the Ashe and Watson Grades, winning three out of four games, while the Cobras have won two from four, but have a two-point buffer on their opponents.

Melbourne has the second highest percentage in the Championship division, with 119 per cent, compared to Kilsyth’s 99 per cent. The Tigers picked up wins over Frankston Blues, Dandenong Rangers and Gippsland United, but the three sides make up the bottom four. Up against their first big challenge last week, the Tigers went down to Bulleen Boomers by 21 points. By contrast, Kilsyth scraped past Gippsland United in the first match, before losing to Knox Raiders by five points in Round 2. A 14-point win over Sandringham Sabres was a confidence booster, before suffering defeat to Frankston in the first game back from the break.

Edie Clarke put up 17 points last week in the loss to Bulleen, with the Tigers shooter improving on her two weeks prior where she shot seven and 12 points, for an average of 12 per game in her three outings. Hayley Letts continued her consistent form with another 10 points, which is what she has averaged from her four games for Melbourne in the Championship division this season. Emilia Marinkovic hit a triple against Gippsland United a couple of games ago for 13 points, but has totalled just 12 in the other three games, for an average of 6.3 points per match.

Kilsyth has a number of potentially dangerous shooters, with Georgia McBean (11.3 points per game) and Hannah Day (9.5) leading the way. Ava Garthwaite (seven points per game) has supported the team well, while Katie Wilson was ale to reach double-figures against Sandringham Sabres back in Round 3. Given Kilsyth’s lower percentage, a win will be crucial for the Cobras to ensure other teams do not leapfrog them on the ladder.

In other matches, the top two teams face the bottom two sides. Top of the table Casey Cavaliers will take on ninth placed Dandenong Rangers, while second placed Bulleen Boomers meet cellar dwellers Gippsland United. Meanwhile Nunawading Spectres will be desperate to cause an upset at home against a Sandringham Sabres outfit keen to grab a top four spot, while fifth placed Knox Raiders are in the same boat when they head down to Frankston to take on the seventh placed Blues.

VJBL UNDER 18 GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURE: ROUND 5

Kilsyth Cobras vs. Melbourne Tigers
Nunawading Spectres vs. Sandringham Sabres
Gippsland United vs. Bulleen Boomers
Dandenong Rangers vs. Casey Cavaliers
Frankston Blues vs. Knox Raiders