Cruel result for Chargers

THE Hobart Chargers have come up agonisingly short of opening their NBL1 account after going down to Ballarat in heartbreaking fashion at Kingborough Sports Centre.

Having recovered from a nine-point deficit midway through the third quarter, the Chargers fell 62-61 to the Rush after Maddie Garrick’s game-winning three-point attempt at the buzzer hit the front of the rim.

Garrick, who scored 14 of her match-high 19 points in the second half and added 10 rebounds, had twice put the hosts ahead, the second inside the last minute when she connected on her fifth long bomb.

However a defensive breakdown with just 21.9 seconds left on the clock saw Kasey Burton left wide open at the edge of the key to put Ballarat back in front before Garrick’s last attempt failed to connect.

Tayla Roberts and Ellie Collins both chimed in with 16 points apiece and had 24 rebounds between them, but after a start which saw the Chargers lead by as many as nine, coach Mark Nash was left lamenting a heavy reliance from beyond the arc.

“It’s a vast improvement from last week where we really struggled but tonight we came out with a different level of intensity,” Nash said.

“The first quarter we went to our strengths, giving Tayla some great inside touches but the second and third quarter we were just living on the three-point line.”

Alicia Froling — twin sister of Launceston’s Keely who monstered Hobart last week — had 20 rebounds for Ballarat.