Baobabs impress in front of home crowd and clinch first victory

The Limpopo Baobabs put on a show on home soil to defeat the Free State Sonoblomo 70-35. The Ngoako Ramatlhodi Sports Complex was already buzzing by the time the game started, and the home team certainly played to the crowd’s atmosphere. The first fifteen minutes were very competitive, with both teams putting up a fight, but a couple of unforced errors from the Sonoblomo gave the Baobabs a seven-goal advantage.

A different shooting pair was introduced in the second quarter by the Free State side; Melandri Meyer moved to Goal Keeper and Amy Jacobs took over the Goal Shooter bib from Bianca Pienaar, who was said to not be feeling well. The duo found it difficult to connect in the circle, especially with the storm of pressure that was being applied by the Baobabs’ defenders. Muhluri Hlatshwayo found joy in converting most of those gains, boasting a ninety-one goal percentage at the halfway mark.

The Sonoblomo displayed an improved performance in the third quarter, following some smooth feeds into the circle, and scored eleven goals. However, they still had a twenty six goal deficit to overturn. Baobabs’ coach, Emily Mathosa made some wholesome changes in the last quarter to give every single player a chance to play. Marichelle Visagie put in a great shift in all four quarters, leading her team upfront and converting twenty six out of the thirty goal attempts, to earn herself a Player of the match accolade.

‘’I’ve always wanted a win and the girls came ready today. We actually prepared ourselves for this win; we can’t only speak about winning, but we need to put in the work on court. The plan is to show up in every single game that we take on, but we didn’t think it was going to be like this. We needed to just go hard on them from the first quarter until the last one,’’ Mathosa said after the game.

In the other Division Two game, the Diamonds kept their cool when the Kingdom Queens were the supporters’ favorites and defeated them 45-32 in the process. The first half produced some exciting moments, but ball placement was an issue for the Queens, as they rushed too quickly to try and get the ball in the shooting circle. This resulted to more gains for the Diamonds, which they were able to finish off in order to lead by five goals at half-time.

Both teams were equally matched in the third quarter, which ended 10-all after a defensive battle from both ends and the shooters making sure that the feeds into the circles didn’t go to waste. The Queens dropped momentum and the Diamonds remained fired up, but still practiced good patience to see themselves through right till the end.

The last game of the day got underway in the evening between the Crinums and the Flames. Coach Martha Mosoahle-Samm started with the seven that finished in their last game against the Jaguars, and the Flames made four attacking changes to the team that started previously. The Flames showed character against a solid Crinums side and in the first thirty minutes, but the Crinums regrouped from the third quarter and widened the gap to twelve goals, making it hard for the Flames to bounce back. The Crinums walked away as victors after a 55-36 win following a strong seal.

FULL-RESULTS

Fireballs 54-33 Stars
Comets 40-53 Tornados
Stings 64-34 Aloes
Queens 32-45 Diamonds
Baobabs 70-35 Sonoblomo
Crinums 55-36 Flames

Sunday Fixtures: 30/04/2023

8:00- Sunbirds vs Queens
10:00- Stars vs Crinums
12:00- Aloes vs Fireballs
14:00- Diamonds vs Comets
16:00- Tornados vs Lilies
18:00- Jaguars vs Flames