ECHUCA Pirates’ trip to Maryborough on Saturday was a night four years in the making.
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For the first time since December 13 2015, both the men's and women's teams won their respective games in enemy territory.
On that night against Wangaratta, the Lady Pirates walked away with a 20-point while the men came out on top by six.
But in Maryborough, both sides were forced to fight until the dying stages as the women prevailed by two points and the men by five.
And club president Phil Candy couldn't have been more pleased with the respective performances of the two sides.
“To beat Maryborough on their own court shows just how far both these teams have come in a short space of time,” he said.
“It will do wonders for their self belief moving forward because you can't underestimate the quality Maryborough have.
“But most impressively, the support these two sides are showing for one another is outstanding.
“It is certainly helping the players on the court to push themselves that little bit further.
“In both games there was more noise coming from our supporters, which shows just how passionate people are about these teams.”
The Lady Pirates’ win saw them complete a remarkable turnaround having gone down to the Blazers by 32 points in October.
And coach Lisa Baker said hard work during her side's extended break had put them in a strong position.
“The girls were outstanding from the word go,” she said.
“Everyone has started to gel together extremely well and you can see that in the way we played the game.
“We've got to thank the boys for their support because it was absolutely outstanding before their game.
“The way the two groups are interacting is really promising for Echuca basketball.”
Zara Pearson underlined her status as one of the league's best outside shooters with three buckets from deep as she finished with 27 points.
“It felt like she couldn't miss,” Baker said.
“Zara has had a tremendous start to the season and a lot of her teammates feed off what she can do at the offensive end.
“But most importantly it is translating into her defensive game, where we can always rely on her to get the job done.”
While the men may have entered their game with the previously undefeated Blazers as underdogs, a strong defensive effort put them on course to victory according to coach Leo Tenace.
“Especially in the second half I thought we lifted our defensive game,” he said.
“Maryborough have traditionally been a tough team to beat at home and to produce that sort of performance shows our best is always going to be good enough.
“I also thought our work rate under the rim was better than it has been in previous weeks so that's where we will be setting the bar from now on.”
At the offensive end, Tyler Phillips and Liam Tenace ensured the Blazers won't be forgetting them any time soon after scoring 28 and 19 points respectively.
And their performances came off the back of the Pirates beginning to find more range to their shooting in recent games according to their coach.
“We always benefit from both guys getting to the rim and scoring or being fouled,” he said.
“They're both work horses who you know what you're going to get on a weekly basis.
“There is a strong focus on outside shots in today's game so it's important we are making the most of our opportunities when we get them.”
The men's team will return to home court for the first time in several weeks on Saturday when they take on the Castlemaine Cannons.
Meanwhile, the Lady Pirates will hit the road again to face the Bendigo Braves.
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