7 November 2012

Photo:  Travis Ellis knocked down 30 points in the Tracy Village Jets comeback win over the Eagles.

Championship Season

Darwin Airport Resort League Results from Tuesday 6 November 2012

League Women –Tracy Village Jets v Palmerston

Minor Premiers Tracy Village Jets dispatched with Palmerston to the tune of 65-31 for their 16^th win of the season, making them favorites to take out the Grand Final when playoffs begin on the 27th. Tikesa Docherty-Cole hit a season high 17 to lead the Bombers with support from the league’s leading scorer Sam Rioli (14 @ 20.5ppg) and Kylie Duggan (11 @ 14.4ppg). After a 15-7 first quarter run the Bombers kept building momentum offensively while clamping down defensively on Palmerston, holding them to single digits in every quarter of the game. Docherty-Cole and Rioli both enjoyed purple patches during the game when they scored 9 or more points in a row to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Best for Palmerston was Chie Adachi with 7 points.

Ansett v Eagles

Ansett broke free of the Eagles after a tight first half to win their match 60-48. The victory keeps the Blues in sight of a possible double chance in the playoffs. The score was all tied up at half time at 28 apiece, but after the break Ansett forged ahead with a 16-11 run ignited by Sam Drescher (30 @ 21ppg) and Nichole Silmon (17 @ 15.8ppg) who scored all the points in the quarter to give the Blues a slim 5 point buffer. Michelle Friel (16 @ 18.4ppg) hit all but two of the points the Eagles put up for the quarter. Things didn’t get any better for the Birds in the last quarter as the Blues again hit 16 points to just 9 for the Eagles, as Drescher (who leads the league in point’s average per game) scored the last 4 points to seal the win.

Lightning v Uni Rebels

Lightning ran riot over an undermanned Uni Rebel side, handing them their worst loss in years…a 98-33 thumping that almost ends any chance they have of defending the title they won last year in the Championship Season. The big margin win will definitely help Lightning’s chances of securing the double chance in the playoff as they already hold a huge points for and against percentage advantage over Ansett who are also looking for the double chance. Lightning bolted out in the first quarter behind the hot handed Brittany Ward (16.2ppg) who hit 10 of her team high 21 as they jumped out to a game winning 27-9 lead. Four other Lightning players added their double figures to the onslaught as they more than countered the lone offensive waged by Tamara Sheppard who led the Rebels with a season high 21.

Ladder:                               Tracy Village Jets 16-1, Lightning 12-6, Ansett 11-7, Eagles 8-10, Uni Rebels 5-13, & Palmerston 1-16

Saturday @ Palmerston:  Palmerston v Tracy Village Jets 6:00 pm in rescheduled game from Rd 13

Next Week Round 19:       Tracy Village Jets v Uni Rebels 6:15pm, Lightning v Eagles 7:45pm & Ansett v Palmerston 9:15pm       

League Men –Palmerston v Lightning

Lightning knocked off a tenacious Palmerston 85-77 to keep alive their hopes of achieving a first ever minor premiership in the Championship Season. Lightning has been sitting atop the ladder for the better part of a month now and the way things are shaping up all of the final positions will not be decided until the last round. Palmerston charged out into the lead in this game after the tip off to lead 22-15 at the end of one period of play. Five three pointers between Robbie Wilson (24 @ 9.6ppg) and Shaquille Hohipa-Wilson (26 @ 19.9ppg) set the pace of the game to start with, but Lightning quickly reversed things in the second quarter behind Zac White (17 @ 21.6ppg) and Cameron Bailey (14 @ 14.8ppg) reeling Palmerston back in to only trail by one 39-38 at half time. Lightning took over after half time to grind out enough of a buffer to see them through to the end, outscoring Palmerston 47 -38 in the second half. Jesse Bell (16.1ppg) led the Lightning with a team high 30 points.

Eagles v Tracy Village Jets

Tracy Village Jets staged a remarkable comeback in the last quarter to overcome the Eagles 82-79 in a game the Birds needed to win. The win by the Bombers now puts them into a position of possibly winning the minor premiership and maybe adding another Grand Final to their already impressive list of 10 since 1976 (including 7 straight between 2001-07). The Eagles will be disappointed that they let a 67-54 lead at the end of three quarters of play be wiped out by the Bombers in the last quarter during a 28-12 run for the win. The loss means that next week’s game between the Eagles and the Rebels could quite likely decide who may claim the fourth playoff spot. Jet Travis Ellis (26ppg) broke out of a bit of a shooting slump to top score for the game with 30 points with four other Bombers hitting double figures. Ellis hit a shot with 1:06 left in the game for a Bomber 80-79 lead that Daniel Miller added to with a pair of free throws just before the end of the game. Shonsdale Robinson (27.6ppg) again led the Eagles with 28 followed by Joseph Johnson (15.6ppg) with 23 and Buster Perkins (24.1ppg) with 19.

Razzle v Ansett

Ansett took to the skies against the Razzle, well and truly flying past them 113-70. John King hit a season high 32 to lead the way for the Blues with support coming from Daniel Florance (25 @ 20.3ppg), Tom Blake (15 @ 6.1ppg) and Matthew Barrett (13 @ 10ppg). Ansett led 22-17 after one quarter of play and then blasted away with a 34-12 run led by 10 points from King who was enjoying his best showing to date. The green and gold lifted in the second half, but so did Ansett as they powered away with a 57-41 run to put the game well out of reach. Luke Kissik led the Razzle with 19 (including 5 treys) with Robert Oliver on 17 and Pascoe Lawler on 15.

Ladder:                               Lightning 12-4, Tracy Village Jets 11-5, Ansett 11-4, Eagles 9-8, Uni Rebels 8-8, Palmerston 4-11 & Razzle 1-15

Saturday @ Palmerston:   Palmerston v Ansett 7:30pm in rescheduled game from Rd 13

Next Week Round 20:           Lightning v Tracy Village Jets 6:15pm, Palmerston v Ansett 7:45pm & Eagles v Uni Rebels 9:15pm, bye: Razzle