The Echuca men’s quest for back-to-back Country Basketball League North-West premierships looks like it is in troubled waters after the Pirates fell to Swan Hill last weekend.
The Flyers topped the Pirates 71-67 on Saturday night in a tight tussle at Echuca Twin Rivers School, leaving Echuca’s hopes of reaching the finals all but sunk.
With two matches left to play, the Pirates still have a chance of finishing in the top four, but they must win both their remaining games — against Mildura and Bacchus Marsh — to have a shot at a finals berth.
The Pirates have two wins and three losses so far this home-and-away season following Saturday’s defeat, leaving them in seventh spot on the ladder.
With the flood crisis forcing some games to be abandoned, this season the ladder is based on win percentage rather than total points.
Fighting to try and climb back into the top four on Saturday night, the Pirates fell behind to the Flyers early on, trailing 21-16 after the first quarter.
But a better second term saw them bounce back. They outscored the Flyers, with Echuca taking a narrow one-point lead into the break.
In the second half however, it was Swan Hill which was able to stand firm.
The Flyers retook the lead and were in front by two points at the final change, before narrowly edging out the Pirates again in the fourth quarter to earn a four-point win.
Steven Bowden was having a flyer for Swan Hill putting up a game-high 19 points, while his teammates Lachlan Gardner (13), Hugh Broad (11) and Matthew Gardner (11) also scored in the double digits.
With their leading scorer for the season Staci Richardson out of the line-up, it was Tyler Phillips and Will Poulton who lead Echuca in scoring.
The Pirates duo had 12 points each, while Cooper Mitchell had 10 points.
The win over Echuca was one of two games Swan Hill played on the weekend, with the Flyers also taking on Macedon Ranges on Sunday, which Macedon won 78-72.
The win was Swan Hill’s second of the season, with the Flyers (2-5) just behind Echuca in eighth on the ladder.
Elsewhere in the CBL North-West, Melton kept their undefeated season intact with a 99-76 win over Bacchus Marsh.
The Mildura Heat had a pair of wins on the weekend, defeating Macedon Ranges 76-68 on Saturday and Maryborough 98-78 on Sunday — results that see them hold on to second spot on the ladder.