Nationals squeak past Sea Eagles - Basketball ACT & Matt Anderson
The Canberra Nationals have shrugged off a resilient Manly Warringah team to claim their fourth victory of the season 71-66 on Saturday at the AIS Training Hall.
Manly, one of the clear front-runners in the Waratah ABA competition had previously beaten the Nationals in their first game of the season in Sydney and the Nationals desperately wanted to get this one back, feeling the first game had been within their grasp.
Both teams started strongly but the Nationals superior offence was let down by some sluggish defence, allowing Manly easy points. Nonetheless the Nationals led 26-15 at the first break, and continued their impressive play in the second period.
The margin had extended slightly to a dozen points by the main break and without some unforced turnovers and mental mistakes from the Nationals, the contest would have been effectively over.
The third quarter was much the same, a low-scoring, tight affair, with neither side able to capitalise on the others' inability to score, closing with the Nationals only up by thirteen points.
A positive start to the last period saw the Nationals slip out to a commanding 19-point advantage and it looked like game over for the visitors.
On cue though, the Nationals reminded the healthy Training Hall crowd why they are the female version of the “Cardiac Kings”.
Having blanketed Manly's leading scorer Erin Lorenzini for most of the game, the Nationals inexplicably decided to relax on her, and she made them pay, caressing three triples and an exceedingly rare four-point play. Foul trouble and the reemergence of tentative turnovers eroded most of the remainder of the buffer, as the Sea Eagles piled on 24 points in the last five and a half minutes to get within a single play of tying things up.
Somehow though the Nationals saw off the potential capsize to claim another home win.
Inspirational forward Hannah Bowley starred with 21 points and 15 rebounds and was ably supported by Kate Rowe (14 points and 10 rebounds) and Anna Vicol’s (10 points) impressive contribution off the bench.
For Manly, Lorenzini had 21 points and fellow Sydney University WNBL regular Sally Potocki had 12.
The Nationals play Newcastle this Saturday, May 30th at 5pm at Belconnen. The Hunters are one of the teams vying for the sixth and final playoff spot, so the Nationals need a victory to keep their slim finals hopes alive.
Bruins and Wildcats Share the Spoils - Noel Rowsell
The Parramatta Wildcats senior men's team has won a testosterone-filled basketball game against the Bankstown Bruins by 115-93 on Saturday night at the Auburn Basketball Centre (ABC), in round eleven of the 2009 Waratah Basketball League (WBL) competition.
The win was sweet revenge for Wildcats head coach Dave Riemer, who had watched helplessly as the Bruins crushed an under-strength Wildcats 103-86 in the first round of the competition.
The Wildcats women had lost 104-32 to the Lady Bruins in their round one clash but this weekend at least kept the competition leaders under one hundred points, falling 93-37 in yet another one-sided encounter.
The Lady Bruins were again quite ruthless in their demolition of the young Wildcats, leading 21-4, 41-13 and 73-20 at the first three breaks respectively, before powering away for a crushing 56-point win.
Parramatta fans saw both the best and the worst of their star-studded men's team, in the second game of the night, with the Wildcats alternating between sheer brilliance and poor judgement (and execution) as the points margin between the two teams rose and fell like a pendulum.
In their brilliant moments, the Wildcats simply put the Bruins to the sword, carving up their opponents with clinical precision and opening up massive leads in excess of twenty to thirty points at those times.
The bad moments would quickly see all of that brilliance undone by the persistent and talented Bruins, who would fight back to within striking distance as Wildcats fans shook their heads in bemused concern.
Despite those low points of the game, the Wildcats simply had too many big guns on the night and the Bruins, playing without Sydney Spirit NBL swing man Clint Reed on the night, would not be able to stop the Parramatta juggernaut from claiming another important scalp.
WOMEN: Bankstown Bruins 93 (Jessica Perkins 15 points, Jaydene Barnes 14, Briana Hennessy 11, Sarah Hately 11) def Parramatta Wildcats 37 (Amanda Ford 14 points)
MEN: Parramatta Wildcats 115 (Adi Causevic 21 points; Stefan Blaszczynski 20; Graeme Dann 20 points, 8 boards, 9 assists; Goran Veg 14 points; Kristian Blaszczynski 9 points, 12 boards; Damian Martin 7 points, 9 boards, 9 assists) def Bankstown Bruins 93 (Greg Barnes 23 points, Alex Opacic 18 points, 10 boards; William Lopez 15 points)
Last Modified on 26/11/2009 15:10
