“Miracle on Swan River” as Sixers sweep into Grand Final

It took close to 39 minutes for the Sixers to hit the front but that was all that counted in shades of the Sandpit 2001. Photo by ABC

The atmosphere at the Arkaba was electric and while many Sixers fans felt confident about getting the win that evening, the tension of having to win in a venue where so many teams have been embarrassed by this Wildcats team the last 10 years at the crunch end of the season.

Immediately from the tip, Bryce Cotton was hitting them from his backside and the Wildcats were daring some unfamiliar Sixers to shoot from the perimeter but Mitch Creek was going all Mike Whitney on the Cats with two early triples as the “spiritual” one was making his mark. Cotton however with 20 points in the first quarter was looking good for Al Green numbers early and realistically was looking like needing to drop 80 for them to win the game.

A few of the Perth passengers got on board the “home” train but as you need to at the Perth Arena the Sixers stuck with the Wildcats, but a great frustration was creeping into the supporters room. The number of grabs, hooks and pushes not picked up by the officials were let go or beginning to be called like a soft brush on a champion horse in stable. Regardless it started the usual words for both coaches on the sideline but it seemed the officials were taking an unusual step which I kind of liked but also felt it defeats the purpose of having a technical foul for coaches, they ignored it and didn’t get caught up in the emotion of the game. Despite all this the Sixers achieved the first goal to be still in the game at half-time 40-49. While others felt less confident, I knew this team were different to last years and had the maturity to make the comeback.

The “here we go again” moment came early in the third as the Wildcats pushed it back out to 16 points with plenty of their players able to apply their “Wildcat” physicality and the Sixers were getting caught matching it by the officials particularly with DJ having a rare horror night in Perth. The Sixers however began to get rolling particularly Childress who after a quiet first half began to dominate his match-ups and along with Shorter dragged them back into the contest. The fans were starting to believe but knew that we needed another few players step up. All of a sudden Cotton was benched with a cramping injury and the Wildcats were running out of rotations. Drmic was playing his best final for Adelaide atoning for his series last season nailing his triples and playing some high quality defence. Speaking of high quality defence, both Sobey and Moore played elite in that area in the final quarter and a half of this one. The Sixers stormed back into it to trail just by one at three quarter time 89-88.

The final quarter was one for the ages as the Wildcats looked to have it forced to game three several times through a ghost foul on Cotton (clearly he went backwards because he landed on his cramping leg and not because of Moore’s defence), Walker draining one of those triples that just made everyone go “well he hits that one doesn’t he” and Brandt allowed to shove and grab his opponent then put in his deuce to give them an 8 point lead with 3 minutes to go, you thought it was done. As the Sixers have done out of the timeout pretty much 100 percent all season (and almost missed by the broadcaster) setup Creek who hit his fourth triple of the night then Sobey forced Martin into an unlikely turnover. Childress then scored off a mismatch before Brandt traded. Walker was fouled and DJ although “well positioned” went for his fifth and did well along with the other players to contain their emotion over the call. Then came one of the gutsiest subs for the night as Wright brought in Hodgson at the defensive end then opted for the smaller lineup with Drmic into the five back the other way.

Both teams began to miss one of their two free throws except for Creek who stepped up and whilst there was enough delay between both to drive a truck between them he cut it to three points and “Miracle on Swan River” was on. Perth made the play and Cotton got an easy cut on a Sixers breakdown and sent it 5 points and you thought this one was done but the missed free throw was rebounded and Sobey then pulled thanks to a “Damon Lowery-esque” call the and1. He missed the crucial free throw but whoever said rebounds win you games of basketball only need watch the final minute of this classic. Childress grabbed the ball bobbling from JP Tokoto normally solid mits and finished with a clumsy Walker foul. With the made free throw scores were level and the Arkaba and every Sixers fan was going off their nut!!!

The Wildcats went to Brandt one, twice and the third time, Moore probably produced the biggest block of his career (Who was it again Joey???) which was to the advantage of Childress and with a clear path to the basket and only one defender, he could not be fouled and rolled in for the easiest layup to give the Sixers the lead for the first time in the night with 24 seconds left. Cotton on one leg then made the play as Creek got pinged and again held his emotion. The nightmare that’ll live with Cotton is the first missed one as it kept the Sixers in front. Out of the timeout, the Sixers ran the most perfect game of keeping’s off played this season eventually the aforementioned fouling Childress. He stepped up-to the stripe and after missing the first then executed the perfect miss as it hit the front of the rim and bobbled up as Drmic rose from the ashes of 2016-17 to clamp the biggest rebound of the night and with a pass to Sobey the Sixers had completed the “Miracle on Swan River.”

The fans at the Arkaba were going ballistic with fist pumps, cheering, clapping, high fives and a couple of guys getting up on a table and chanting “Let’s go Sixers, let’s go.” Spectators had their phones out filming the celebrations with the overall consensus being while we didn’t play our best we were in the game when the whips were cracking and our new found finals maturity lead us to the sweep over the long time rival. It was most satisfying to savour a series win over our rivals in a semi-final for the first time since 1999 and to end the drought of the Wildcat/Breaker dynasty. Now within the next few weeks a new champion will be crowned a top the NBL tree, the first since 2010.

So here we are again back in 1998-99 with the mighty Victorians of Melbourne United with a stacked roster and the advantage of at least two home games in front of no doubt sell-out crowds against long time rivals of South Australia, the team orientated Adelaide 36ers. Across the border and interstate they’ll favour the United group after they waltzed over the Sixers 4-0 this season but that was pre-Christmas. Both teams are vastly different post and the state is hungry for success with only a womens AFL team, T20 franchise and one-day cricket team tasting the ultimate in the last 14 years. With our two AFL clubs falling on the last day in their last Grand Finals to the enemy and this club not savouring the spoils since 2003, the whole state will be bleeding blue, white and red for the next few weeks and if its anything like the 1998-99 series, this will be one of the highlights of the sporting year for the piping shrike state.

Adelaide 36ers 89 (Childress 25, Creek 22, Sobey 13) defeated Perth Wildcats 88 (Cotton 31, Kenny, Brandt 14).

*Adelaide won the series 2-0