By Matt Fotia
Reigning premiers the Adelaide Thunderbirds kept their spotless 2024 home record alive on Saturday night with a comprehensive 26 goal win over the Melbourne Mavericks.
The competitions best defence were at their stingy best once again, keeping the Mavericks to just 41 goals for the evening and just 16 goals, from just 20 attempts, in the second half.
Mavericks fans might have expected their side to make inroads in the second quarter when Thunderbirds star goalkeeper Shamera Sterling-Humphrey left the court, but in true Thunderbirds style she was replaced by the equally dynamic, if undersized, Latanya Wilson.
Wilson looked more than comfortable in the goalkeeper bib, racking up four deflections, two gains, one rebound, one pickup and 32 Nissan Net Points across her 13-minute stint in goalkeeper.
Shamera Sterling-Humphrey had to leave the court in the second quarter.Coach Tania Obst obviously would’ve preferred Sterling-Humphrey not have to leave the court but found a silver lining in Wilson’s move to the last line of defence.
“Goalkeeper isn’t unfamiliar for her (Wilson); she has played there,” Obst said, referencing Wilson’s previous playing experience outside the SSN.
“To be able to swing Latty back gets Hannah (Petty) onto the court at wing defence and allowed us to see some other things and get some more evidence around things we do really well with different combinations.”
Wilson has been nothing short of incredible this season.
The 23-year-old sits second in the competition for intercepts for 38 and is in the top five for both deflections (65) and gains (65).
Obst said Wilson’s hunger to grow has been the main catalyst behind her step up this season.
“She is growing every time she hits the training track,” said Obst of the Jamaican International.
“She goes to training wanting to know what it is she’s working on and what does it (her role) look like for her this week.
“She just has an ability to be in the right position to be able to see where her player is as well as the ball.”
The Thunderbirds once again utilised their bench to its full capacity in the win over the Mavericks, something they’ve done weekly this season following the success of the tactic in 2023.
Obst believes this flexibility will be a major part of their push for back-to-back premierships.
“We have players now who have been together for awhile and they’ve done the hard yards, years of work, not just this year and that is starting to play to our strengths,” Obst said.
“To be able to roll people on and off the court in different positions and it be pretty seamless and to be able to push on every quarter is going to be a real strength of ours moving forward.”
The Thunderbirds are now guaranteed finals action in 2024 but aren’t yet satisfied according to skipper Hannah Petty, as they eye off a top two finish and the double chance.
“We want to go into finals full of confidence, so that’s our focus,” Petty said post-game.
“It’s quite simple, just keep winning and go in with form.
“We want to finish top two; we want the double chance.
“We’re hunting for more.”
