LAUNCESTON’S unbeaten streak at home this season has come to an abrupt end in a shock turnaround of fortunes at the hands of the Geelong Supercats.
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The Supercats dominated the second half to win 64-57 in front of stunned Torns fans at the Elphin Sports Centre on Saturday night.
Tornadoes coach Reece Potter said the final result was no surprise against a side that held a previous 10-7 win/loss record before the weekend that also belied their abilities.
“Geelong’s probably the most talented team on paper and in the competition, and they showed that side tonight,” Potter said.
“For us, it is a game we’ve got to learn a lot from.
“We’ve had some close ones over the last few weeks against Bendigo, Kilsyth and alike, and there were teams that put us under pressure as well, but we weren’t able to get back over the line.”
Potter was also nonplussed over dropping the club’s first home loss that ended eight wins in a row in Launceston this year.
He believed it could be the tonic to rebuild towards a home final and reinvigorate a championship campaign.
“We never want to have a loss, but if we’re going to have a loss, I say it’s not a bad time to have it, so we can be focused on the last three games of the regular season before playoffs,” Potter said.
“That’s not saying I’m happy with it, but I think we’ll learn a lot from it and re-focus for that last part of the season.”
The upset result was won in two parts.
Geelong doubled its half-time score in the third quarter to turn a nine-point deficit into a one-point lead at the final change on the back of a 26-16 stretch.
The visitors then turned from straight shooters to determined defenders in the last.
They could only score 12 points in the term, but kept the Torns to a season-low six points.
Potter was amazed at how poor his side was when it counted.
“I think Geelong really came out after half-time, we didn’t match it and just came out flat,” he said.
“At the offensive end, we were pretty atrocious to be quite frank.
“We only finished that last quarter with six points and we’ve got a really talented group and a discipline group, and we didn’t show that in that quarter.”
The Torns shot out of the blocks to a 21-14 lead at the quarter-time break after finishing with a 12-5 run.
The hosts broke out to a 11-point lead early in the third but the Supercats scored 22 of the next 29 points in a mirror image of the opening 24 minutes.
Lauren Mansfield top scored with 15 points and Ally Wilson collected 14.
Mikaela Ruef added 20 rebounds to her 12 points.