Rnd 19: Bearcats Men fight past tiring Rockets
By Benito Carbone @_DavidCarbone
West Adelaide Bearcats 88 | North Adelaide Rockets 61
A well-rounded team effort has seen the West Adelaide Bearcats record a convincing 27-point win over the North Adelaide Rockets at Hillcrest Stadium. Having been officially eliminated from the finals equation last round, the visitors brought plenty of positives to the table, despite the coach’s choice to leave import Perkins on the bench. Joel Spear had 18 points and 7 rebounds, while Tom Kubank scored 16 of his own. The other three starters and Perkins each registered 10 or more points in an emphatic performance. For the Rockets, Brett Collins and Brad Jonnek each had 17 points and 6 rebounds, with star Luke Mapunda recording 14 and 9 boards before fouling out late in the match.
West Adelaide brought in a vastly different starting court than what they had in their previous encounter at Hillcrest in Round 1, with just Blake Truslove starting in both matches. Similarly to that encounter, the Bearcats started very brightly, opening up an early 8-point lead after a Perkins triple from great build-up play. The away side took a 3-point lead into the second term and expanded their lead, thanks to a maximum from way downtown by Spadavecchia (14 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists) and another by Spear just seconds after. Cameron Simmons returned the favour with his own triple for the hosts, before Demetrius Perkins (10 points, 2 blocks) evaded the Rockets defence to convert a brilliant lay-up and one. The import was on fire, and kept his fans cheering with a mighty rejection on Pike just seconds after. North Adelaide actually took the lead with 1:30 remaining in the term, before conceding late points to find themselves trailing by 3 at the half-time break.
The tenacious encounter continued in the 3rd quarter with plenty of lip circulating around the players. Truslove (13 points, 14 boards) seemed to break the match open, as the 37-year old climbed high for a huge dunk. Luke Mapunda kept the Rockets in touch, directing smooth plays that kept their scoreboard ticking. A late triple to Jonnek saw the hosts reach three-quarter time just 6 points down, but the fixture became one-way traffic, as West Adelaide breezed past the home side’s defensive structures time and time again, as their lead ballooned out late in the match. Rankin (10 points) recorded the Bearcats’ final points of the match, as they soared to a comfortable 61-88 victory.
The win leaves both sides in limbo, with no real objective to aim for with just two matches remaining. Expect the two teams to continue giving their youth products and fringe players more minutes with next season in mind.
Round 20: Saturday, 6 August at 8:15pm
North Adelaide vs Woodville @ St Clair
West Adelaide vs Eastern @ Port Adelaide
Comments
Comment Guidelines: The SportsTG Network is made up of players, families and passionate sports followers like you who have a strong opinion about sport. That's great - we want you to have your say and share your thoughts with the world. However, we have a few rules that you must follow to keep it fun for all. Please don't be rude, abusive, swear or vilify others. Apart from some pretty serious sport sanctions, we also can ban you and report you if things get out of hand. So play fair and have fun, and thanks for your contribution.