Hulme leads Giants attack on Redbacks

THE honeymoon period is nearly over for rookie head coach Wayne Creek, and it is just starting for Ryan Hulme, but the SKILLED Goldfields Giants are feeling much better about their start to the new State Basketball League season.

The Giants ended a two-game losing streak with a hard-fought 117-105 win over the Perth Redbacks at Kalgoorlie’s Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium on Saturday night, inspired by new captain Hulme with 29 points. Hulme, who unleashed a brilliant long range shooting display in the last quarter when the game was in the balance, will miss the next six games due to his honeymoon in Mauritius.

Hulme scored 18 points in the final period, including five in a row from beyond the three-point arc.

The Giants held a slender 72-71 lead at three-quarter-time, which blew out to 21 points at one stage after Hulme turned the game on its head with a golden three minutes.

“Ryan is the kind of guy that once he gets his eye in, he’s tough to stop and you’re not going to tell him to stop shooting,” Creek said.

“I said to the guys ‘take what comes’ and they (Perth) were silly enough to leave him open.”

American import John Vaudreuil produced his best game to date with 23 points and nine rebounds, while Matt Leske added 20 points which included a vital clutch basket in the final period. Former Lakeside forward Lordan Franich also continued his dream start at his new club with season-high hauls of 19 points and 14 rebounds.

The 201cm forward has averaged 15.5 points and 8.8 boards in his first month in a Giants uniform.

The win ensured the Giants improved their win-loss record to 2-2 ahead of next weekend’s tough road double-header against the Rockingham Flames and Cockburn Cougars, who are led by former Giants head coach Stephen Charlton.

The Giants overcame a slow start on Saturday after trailing 33-22 at quarter-time, but clawed their way back to 48-51 at half-time. Creek said the message to his players during the break was simple – be aggressive. “We said at half-time we’re not crashing the glass enough and not putting the body on the other team when the shot goes up,” Creek said.

“We focused on being physical and as I’ve said, we’ve got big John (Vaudreuil) but you can’t just rely on him to get the boards.

“Russell (Hurst) and Lordan (Franich) have come out in the second half and been much more active, more physical and it showed towards the end of the game.” The Giants dominated the rebounds in the second half, pulling down 55 to 36.

Perth Wildcats guard Jarrod Prior was the Redbacks’ most influential player with 28 points. However, Goldfields blanketed the influence of Perth’s American import Jon Meriweather, the 201cm forward held to just four points at half-time coming off a 36-point haul.

“He (Meriweather) went to the foul line and got a little bit more active after half-time,” Creek said. “He’s a great foul shooter and ended up with 17 points, but was really ineffective and even the set plays they ran for him didn’t work. We were aware of what they were doing and the guys did a great job on him.”

Article by Jarrod Lucas (Kalgoorlie Miner)
Photo by Travis Anderson - Andmedia/Sports Vision




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