ABA 2025-26: Back-to-back bid still in play for polished Barking Owls as they brush aside sloppy Sonics

Barking Owls have set up a title-deciding clash with rivals Denmark Magpies by brushing past Sonics in Tuesday night’s preliminary final. The two best sides in the four-team Albany Basketball Association women’s A-grade competition will play off for the premiership on Friday after Owls proved too classy for a sloppy Sonics outfit. Losing out to the Magpies in the qualifying final last week, a determined Owls scored the first seven points of the game in a flash and never really looked back on their way to a 14-point win. Sonics challenged at stages, getting within three points late in the opening half but polished guard Dakota Bremner answered back immediately to Shianne Arthur’s triple to give Owls a six-point buffer at half-time. Bremner was hard to stop in offence and had eight first-half points, while Rebecca Benson’s influence grew in the last half. Four consecutive baskets approaching the midway stage of the second period broke the game open, the last of which was a long-range bucket from Maddy Graham that stretched the margin to 16 points. The contest petered out from there, as Owls cruised to a 45-31 result and kept alive their hopes of back-to-back titles. Benson finished as the top scorer in the final with 18 points, six of which came from the free throw line, while Bremner’s impact was immense. Bremner was electric at both ends to finish with 13 points and Graham also impressed with 12. The writing was on the wall for last week’s elimination final winners, one basket in the opening 13 minutes of play and a wobbly radar from three-point territory proving major issues. Phoenix Woods was in early foul trouble which didn’t help the Sonics’ cause, but she shrugged that off to play vital minutes in the second half. Her six points along with contributions from Shianne Arthur (12 points) and Kaylee Arthur (11) had Sonics close, but in the end their side was outgunned.