13 June 2012

Photo:  Donna Peters from the Eagles.

Darwin Airport Resort League Results from tuesday 12 June 2012

Preliminary-Finals

League Women –Uni Rebels v Eagles

The Eagles flew into the Grand Final this weekend with a moral boosting 64-49 win against arch-rivals and game favourite’s the Uni Rebels. It was only the second win by the Eagles over the Rebels during this Challenge Season competition. Michelle Friel (20) and Trish Graham (12) were the only Eagles to hit double figures but the supporting cast stepped up with Lillian Williams (9), Rachel Watchorn (9) and Donna Peters (8) helping to take the Birds to their sixth Challenge Season Grand Final in the past seven years. The Rebels held a slim 28-27 half time lead due to the hot handed Jaylene Bonson who knocked down 15 of her 17 points in the half. Unfortunately for the Rebels Bonson took a hard knock just before half time and injured her back which affected her play for the remainder of the game. Defensively, the Eagles were on their game and eventually the pressure began to take effect. The pressure led to a huge turn around in the third quarter when the Birds outscored the Rebels 21-6 to take charge of the game. Tamara Sheppard was the lone standout in the second half for the Rebels, hitting 12 of her team high 18, but with little support from the rest of the team they were unable to respond to the Eagle challenge. Peter’s (67% from the field) and Friel did most of the scoring in the fourth quarter during a 16-15 run that held off the Rebels and sealed the win. The minor premier Tracy Village Jet’s are the defending champions from last year’s Challenge Season Grand Final (they beat the Rebels 72-58) and are looking to add a fourth Grand Final to their list of championships. Both teams have won the competition 3 times but have never met in a Challenge Season Grand Final until now. For the record the Jets beat the Eagles 2 out of 3 times during the regular season.  

Ladder-including Preliminary finals:         Tracy Village Jets 18-2, Uni Rebels 15-6, Eagles 14-7, Ansett 6-14, Lightning 4-15 & Warriors 3-16-2

Saturday 16 June Grand Final:                  Tracy Village Jets v Eagles 5pm

League Men –Tracy Village Jets v Eagles

Tracy Village outlasted the Eagles in their battle for entry into this seasons Grand Final with a close and hard fought 86-81 win. Travis Ellis (25.9ppg) led a group of five players in double figures as the Bombers had to pull out all stops to keep the Birds from denying them another shot at Ansett. Ellis finished with a team high 24, but it was team mate Liam MacLachlan who stole the show in the last quarter when the Bombers finally seized control of the game. The lead up to the closing stages of the game saw the Bombers leading most of the way, but unable to shake off the dogged Eagles who managed to grab a 68-67 lead going into the last quarter. The Jets had a handy 51-37 lead at half time, but the Eagles stormed back into contention with a 31-16 third quarter revival led by Joseph Johnson (16), Charles Benning (a game high 29) and Buster Perkins (19). Unfortunately for the Eagles Perkins (22.6ppg) bowed out of the game in the third quarter with five fouls and the loss of his scoring was felt immediately. Running afoul of the referees didn’t help the Eagles cause either. For the record the Eagles were pinged for 24 fouls to the Jets 10 with the Bombers hitting 15pts from the charity stripe to the Birds 5. MacLachlan hit the first basket of the last quarter for the Bombers and added the last 7 in a row at the end of the quarter to kill off any chance the Eagles may have had. Supporting Ellis was Captain Michael MacLean (16), MacLachlan (14 @ 11.6ppg), Aaron Simpson (13) and Dan East (11). The Jets now look to add more history to their club by playing in their 21^st Challenge Season Grand Final! Going back to the original K-Jets who beat RSL in 1979 the Jets have won 12 Grand Finals and will be looking to make it 13 on Saturday. With Ansett missing a large portion of its scoring punch in Matt Hunt, Jarrod Sheppard and Ross Vasic due to overseas commitments the Blues will be hard pressed to offer much resistance to the Jets. The trio averages about 40pts a game.

Ladder-including Preliminary final:          Tracy Village Jets 17-4, Ansett 16-4, Eagles 13-8, Lightning 8-12-1, Warriors 4-15, Uni Rebels 2-13-4

Saturday 16 June Grand Final:                      Ansett v Tracy Village Jets 6:30pm