BSBL women’s A-grade: Tornadoes Red advance to grand final with thrilling five-point preliminary final win

A thrilling five-point win over Aces Navy has seen Tornadoes Red advance to the Bunbury Senior Basketball League women’s A-grade grand final.

Friday night’s contest was tied up with only 40 seconds left on the clock, but Charlotte Mills was the clutch closer for the winners, sealing the deal by hitting five consecutive free throws.

The most critical of the foul shots came after a technical foul was called on the Aces Navy bench for their reaction to a foul call, which allowed Mills to extend a two-point lead out to three.

Tornadoes Red jumped out to an early 20-13 lead, but a succession of quick buckets for Aces Navy tied up the game, with both teams then trading baskets as they headed into half time tied at 26 apiece.

Back-to-back scores for Hannah Chatfield (9 points) gave Aces Navy a brief 34-33 advantage in the third term, but Tornadoes Red hit back to take a 40-36 buffer into the final break.

Both teams looked tense in the final term, favouring the long shot over taking the ball to the basket but coming up empty on several trips down the floor.

With the game up for grabs, Jasmine Barrett (14 points) stepped up, drilling her side’s first three-pointer of the last term and finishing at the basket after a strong drive to extend her side’s lead out to nine points.

But in the theme of the night, Aces Navy refused to go away, peeling off a late 9-0 run to ensure the scores were tied as the clock ticked with a minute to go.

The season decider will be an all-Tornadoes affair with the winners taking on Tornadoes Black, who cruised through the regular season with a 19-1 record and won the qualifying final over Tornadoes Red by 16 points.