Sport
7 October, 2025
Men’s Blazers start 2025 with two defeats
The Men’s Maryborough Blazers showed signs of promise during last weekend’s double header, but couldn’t earn a victory, opening their 2025 season with two defeats.
A third-quarter surge from the Bacchus Marsh Lions allowed them to take away a high-scoring victory over the Blazers 102-87 before the Macedon Ranges Rockies sunk Maryborough to a 0-2 record with an 84-63 win.
Maryborough headed into Saturday’s season opener quietly optimistic they could challenge a Bacchus Marsh team that finished second in the 2024 CBL North West Men regular season.
The Lions roared out of the gates with a 9-0 run, putting pressure on the hosts to answer quickly.
The Blazers responded to the challenge, led by the reliable scoring of 2024 John Stringer MVP Bailey Jacobs and an incredible late burst from Jack Skinner, who tied the game at 26-26 with two free throws after the quarter-time buzzer.
Following a frantic opening 10 minutes, Maryborough began to build a noticeable lead in the second quarter, with Harrison Adams building on his strong first quarter and some key buckets from Ky Swards and Harry Alsop.
Trailing by eight points with just over two minutes left in the half, the Lions began to change the game with their defence, swarming the ball handler and coming up with consecutive turnovers.
Those turnovers were the catalyst for a 13-0 Bacchus Marsh run to end the second quarter, giving the visitors a five-point advantage at half time.
Adams looked in fine touch for the Blazers to start the second half. However, his game was cut short after suffering an ankle injury early in the third quarter.
The injury was unfortunate timing for Maryborough, as Bacchus Marsh started to halt the Blazers’ offence to two field goals in the last seven minutes and finished the period strongly to take a 15-point advantage into the final term.
Despite some late makes from captain Kynan Carter, Swards and Jacobs, the Blazers couldn’t make any inroads on the deficit, as the Lions opened their season with a 15-point victory.
Jacobs provided a reliable scoring outlet throughout the contest, leading Maryborough with 25 points, followed by Adams on 14, who didn’t return after his ankle injury, and Swards on 13.
The Blazers looked to regroup the following day versus the Macedon Ranges Rockies, who also lost their opening encounter in a nail-biter to the Mildura Heat.
The Rockies implemented a full-court press at the start of the match, which caused some early headaches for their opponents.
With Adams ruled out against the Rockies, Alsop stepped up massively for Maryborough, exploiting the extra space caused by the press to score 12 of his team’s first 17 points.
Down by seven points in the latter stages of the opening period, the Rockies took advantage of several Blazers turnovers to flip their deficit into a 25-22 lead at quarter time.
Despite trailing in the contest, Maryborough remained aggressive, fighting through contact to attack the rim to consistently earn free throws.
However, the Blazers were routinely not rewarding their efforts with points at the line, which proved to be costly, as the Rockies began to slowly pull away from their opponents, increasing their advantage to 11 points at half time.
That advantage continued to grow in the second half, as the Macedon Ranges on-ball pressure grounded Maryborough’s offence for extended periods in the third quarter.
The Blazers’ defence was also forcing misses from their opponents, but the Rockies’ dominance on the glass at both ends was showing in the second half, as they made the most of second-chance possessions to enter three-quarter time with a 17-point buffer.
Swards, Carter and Jacobs gave Maryborough some positives in the final quarter with their scoring, but it couldn’t stop the Rockies from winning the match by 21 points.
Jacobs was once again the Blazers’ leading scorer with 19 points, well supported by Alsop and Swards, who both finished on 15 points.
The Blazers will be keen to put their name in the winners’ column when they travel to Kyneton this Sunday to take on the Tigers at 1 pm.
