Wildcats snuff out Blaze
The Perth Wildcats overcame a determined Gold Coast Blaze 89-84 in their opening home match of the season at Challenge Stadium.
Both teams were coming off heavy losses in Cairns and were desperate to bounce back from 1-2 starts to the season, but in the end the Wildcats were able to just shake a Blaze team that would not go away.
Perth's loss to the Taipans was by 18 points the night after a thrilling win in Townsville and a week after a tight loss in Wollongong.
The Wildcats took to 'The Jungle' for the first time this season without the injured Paul Rogers and despite still showing signs of the teamwork not quite being what it could become, they did enough for the five-point win.
New skipper Shawn Redhage led the way with 32 points on 12-of-17 shooting including four from long range.
He had good support from Stephen Weigh with 13 points of which nine came from beyond the arc, with Jesse Wagstaff scoring 11 and Drew Williamson 10.
Gold Coast went down to Cairns by 17 on Wednesday and looked tired without injured pair Anthony Petrie and Ayinde Ubaka, but were a much better unit in Perth with new import Erron Maxey starting in just his second game since replacing Michael Joiner.
Maxey finished with 23 points and 10 boards in a supremely impressive performance in a sign of exciting things to come. Fellow import Ubaka scored 16 and Adam Gibson 10 with seven assists.
Pero Cameron, Greg Vanderjagt and Chris Goulding all added eight for the Blaze.
The Wildcats started well with Weigh enjoying his starting role early with eight points in the first five minutes as the 'Cats went up 14-9.
Gold Coast was playing hard, though, and with much more purpose than Wednesday in Cairns. With new import Maxey looking good in his first start and Vanderjagt doing well under the bucket, the Blaze remained within five after the first quarter.
Perth began the second period strongly with six quick points in a row to lead by nine, but only managed three more for the final six minutes as Gold Coast got moving despite Harvey sitting out after picking up his third foul.
Gibson hit eight points in the second term alone and helped Gold Coast tie the sores 37 at the main break.
The Blaze continued the momentum early in the third when Cameron nailed two straight threes and give his side its biggest lead of the game.
The Wildcats quickly hit back with three-pointers to Martin, Weigh and Redhage to regain the lead at 50-48. The Blaze took control again, though, and went back up by five when Harvey hit his first from long range.
The lead was then 59-52 when Maxey hit another jumper, but the 'Cats hit back with a pair from the stripe to Wagstaff and a three to Drew Williamson. Another bomb from Williamson and one to Redhage then saw Perth lead 63-59 at three quarter-time.
Perth quickly went out by eight early in the last quarter, but Gold Coast kept coming and Ubaka brought them within one with four minutes to go.
Redhage continued his big night hitting a crucial three to make the margin four and the 'Cats did enough for the win from there.
Gold Coast (1-3) returns home to host the Melbourne Tigers on Wednesday, while the Wildcats (2-2) remain home the next four weeks to play Adelaide, Melbourne, Wollongong and New Zealand.
Perth Wildcats 89 (Redhage 32, Weigh 13, Wagstaff 11)
Gold Coast Blaze 84 (Maxey 23, Ubaka 16, Gibson 10)
@ Challenge Stadium; 09/10/09. Crowd: 4,400.
Crocs too good for Tigers
A second-quarter blitz from Townsville has provided the catalyst for an emphatic 103-68 victory over the Melbourne Tigers at the State Netball and Hockey Centre on Saturday night.
After a competitive first quarter, the Crocodiles busted the game wide open in the second, outscoring the Tigers 31-16 to take a whopping 54-31 lead at half-time and effectively ending the contest.
The Crocodiles had lost their previous two matches in heartbreaking fashion courtesy of buzzer-beating baskets and they vented their frustrations on the Tigers who headed into the match without key players Nathan Croswell and Tommy Greer as well as Chris Anstey, who isn't expected back by late December.
While Melbourne was a shadow of the side that beat and pushed title favourite New Zealand respectively in its opening two matches, it was a victim of its own terrible shooting and ended up with an unimpressive 34 percent efficiency from the field on a 24-of-70 clip.
Conversely the Crocs hit 54 percent from 34-of-63 shooting.
Townsville pair Corey Williams (19 points, six rebounds, seven assists) and Brad Williamson (20 points including 6-of-9 from three-point land) were the driving forces behind the comprehensive victory and they had valuable support from Russell Hinder (22 including 6-of-7 from beyond the arc, eight rebounds) and Cameron Tovey (16, six rebounds).
For Melbourne, Luke Kendall was the shining light (19, including five threes) and Mark Worthington chimed in with 10.
As brutally efficient as Townsville was offensively, amassing a brilliant 15-of-32 from outside the perimeter, it also owned the boards (49-33).
Melbourne was slow to get out of the blocks and Townsville exploited the Tigers' early sloppiness to shoot out to a 12-3 lead with Hinder and Williams both figuring prominently in this mini period of dominance.
But Melbourne guard Kendall sparked his team into action with five points in 99 seconds as the Tigers scored 11 of the next 13 points to level things up at 14-14.
However, this was as close as the Tigers would get as the Crocs responded with nine of the quarter's last 10 points to take an eight-point lead (23-15) at the first change - a monster three-pointer from Williamson the icing on an early yellow and green cake.
And Townsville, inspired alphabetically by Williams and Williamson, continued that trend in the second term as it careered away from a flat-footed Melbourne outfit to amass a match-winning 23-point lead at half-time.
The man they call 'Homicide' was unstoppable at the start of the term with eight points in the first 5:11 while Williamson proved a force to be reckoned with from beyond the perimeter with eight of his own - including two threes.
Kendall tried his best to stop the rot with three scores, two of which he drained from beyond the arc, but the Tigers weren't able to string together consecutive baskets for the entire period as Townsville outscored the hosts 31-16 in the second quarter.
The only way Williams looked like being stopped was after a tough blocking foul delivered by Worthington which drew blood from the superstar Croc early in the third quarter - but not even that could keep the brilliant import down.
The Crocs continued the pain for Melbourne in the second half, outscoring the hosts 49-37 to complete a memorable road victory against last year's grand finalist.
The Tigers (1-2) and the Crocodiles (2-2) both face the Blaze next.
Melbourne meets them on Wednesday night on the Gold Coast while Townsville hosts them on Friday night.
Melbourne Tigers 68 (Kendall 19, Worthington 10, Mackinnon 8)
Townsville Crocodiles 103 (Hinder 22, Williamson 20, Williams 19)
@ The State Netball and Hockey Centre, 10/10/2009. Crowd: 2,762
Hawks soar over Snakes
The Wollongong Hawks have escaped with gritty 71-59 victory over the Cairns Taipans at the WIN Entertainment Centre on Saturday.
In a grinding defensive battle, the Hawks prevailed behind a stirring 26-17 fourth-quarter performance.
Holding a three-point edge, Wollongong scored the first six points of the fourth to help dispel its recent final-quarter woes.
Tywain 'All-Day' McKee scored all of his 18 points (7-of-16 and five steals) in the last three quarters as he battled through a swarming press in the opening stages.
Glen Saville had 12 and seven rebounds and Cam Tragardh added 11 points, as the Hawks remained perfect at home.
Rich Melzer registered 14 points and 10 rebounds, and former Hawk Dusty Rychart had 10 points for the Taipans, who had their three-game winning-streak halted.
Ian Crosswhite (11 points) racked up a pair of fouls in the initial 19 seconds, with the Taipans setting the tone on defence, inducing four turnovers and limiting the Hawks to a lone field goal in the first three minutes.
McKee was greeted with an instant double-team each time he touched the ball and Cairns grabbed a brief 8-7 advantage.
Wollongong's bench made an immediate impact, Tim Coenraad featured during a handy 9-4 close to the period, including a ferocious tip-jam.
David Gruber and Rhys Martin also made vital contributions to push Wollongong in front 16-12.
Rychart's basket to open the second stanza was just the Taipans' second field-goal; he quickly followed with a trademark bucket after cleaning the offensive glass to lock the scores at 16-16.
Dwayne Vale's lay-up handed the visitors the lead and Rychart added two more to his tally, as the Hawks stood stagnant with only a free-throw to their credit after four minutes.
Wollongong finally found a field goal through Larry Davidson inside, sparking a handy 7-0 spurt as McKee finally began to find his swagger.
Cairns missed a pair of lay-ups on a fastbreak, but recovered when Phill Jones struck form long-range on their next trip down court to stop the bleeding.
McKee buried a pair of late threes to finish with eight points in the term, the Hawks holding a five-point buffer (31-26) at the half.
The Hawks maintained a six-point lead for much of the third, but the Taipans found life when Crosswhite spun his way to the hoop for a thunderous dunk.
Skip Mills and Melzer combined for five late points to pull within one point, before Gruber closed the door with a hook shot on the buzzer to have the home team up 45-42.
The Taipans pulled within four (52-56) on a three by Mills, but an immediate reply by McKee and Saville saw the deficit open back up to 11 (63-52).
The Taipans (3-2) next play at the Gold Coast on Friday October 23, while the Hawks (2-1) host the New Zealand Breakers next Saturday.
Wollongong Hawks 71 (McKee 18, Saville 12, Tragardh 11)
Cairns Taipans 59 (Melzer 14, Crosswhite 11, Rychart 10)
@ WIN Entertainment Centre, 10/10/2009. Crowd: 3,316.
Sixers hold off Crocs
A clutch basket to import John Gilchrist has earned the Adelaide 36ers a thrilling 90-89 victory over the Townsville Crocodiles at the Distinctive Homes Dome on Friday night.
After leading by 20 points late in a dominant second quarter, the Sixers fell in a hole, surrendering their advantage midway through the third.
It was anyone's game in the final term but Gilchrist came up with the final two buckets of the game - one with 25 seconds remaining and the second with 1.9 seconds left on the clock - to get his side across the line.
The match-winner smashed into the ring but luckily fell for the home side.
Peter Crawford got a shot away in the brief restart but his attempt fell short of the hoop.
Adam Ballinger led from the front in the fourth quarter and doubled his points tally to finish with 24, Gilchrist collected 21 points while Darren Ng was on fire in the second term and finished with 17 points.
Townsville showed character to outscore the home side 51-34 in the second half and would've been rueing its slow start.
Corey Williams, who almost registered a triple-double, got his side back into the contest after the break with 32 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, Rolan Roberts was influential in the tight fourth quarter and finished with 22 points and Russell Hinder was next best with 14 points.
The match began with an even first quarter as Townsville opened up mini-breaks before Adelaide hit back.
The Sixers were showing some promising form but it took the home side until the final minute to arrest the ascendancy away from the visitors. Ng sunk his first three pointer, David Cooper swatted a ball clear of the Crocs' hoop before Jacob Holmes scored just before the buzzer to deliver his side a 24-20 lead.
Adelaide had all the momentum in the second term with Ng continuing his scintillating form outside the arc.
He scored 11 of his team's first 14 points (featuring a hat-trick of three pointers) and in an instant the Sixers were out to a 16-point buffer.
It took the Crocs more than four-and-a-half minutes to register their first points from the field - a Cameron Tovey lay-up - and the drought-breaker prompted Townsville coach Trevor Gleeson to call time-out.
The break in play did temporarily stop the haemorrhaging, with Williams enjoying some time in the key, but the Sixers were unrelenting.
Gilchrist showed some slick dribbling and sharp passing while he and his team-mates maintained a perfect record from the stripe.
In contrast, Townsville dropped just four out of 10 from the line and were playing with little confidence.
Stephen Hoare got the important final bucket of the quarter but the Sixers still held a commanding 56-38 lead at half-time.
Townsville staged an amazing turnaround in the second half with Williams single-handedly leading the rapid fight back.
He scored 14 effortless points, featuring lay-ups and jump shots, and left the Distinctive Homes Dome crowd stunned.
Crawford sunk a long bomb midway through the period to give the Crocs an unlikely lead.
Adelaide's radar had gone haywire with the home side shooting at just 22 percent from the field.
But a solo effort and then a last-gasp lay-up from Cortez Groves at least brought the scores level - 67 a piece - at three-quarter time.
It was a real slug fest in the fourth quarter before a Russell Hinder three, a Rolan Roberts ally-oop and another Williams bucket in quick succession gave the visitors the edge once more.
But Ballinger then Gilchrist stood up to deliver some telling baskets and the crowd urged their heroes home.
Adelaide now holds a 2-1 record and heads to Perth next week to tackle the Wildcats while Townsville (1-2) plays the Tigers in Melbourne on Saturday night.
Adelaide 36ers 90 (Ballinger 24, Gilchrist 21, Ng 17)
Townsville Crocodiles 89 (Williams 32, Roberts 22, Hinder 14)
@ Distinctive Homes Dome 9/10/09 Attendance 4,759
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