Breakers defeat Kings, 95 – 76
The Breakers were looking to further their lead on top of the NBL ladder with the first of their 2 game round against the Kings.
Ben Madgen once again cementing his spot as a possible league MVP candidate to go along with his runaw
Cedric Jackson has been the key to the Breakers season, but in this game the star guard was brought back down to earth and proven to be human after all with a subpar output from his usual game, but where Jackson fell short Darryl Corletto took over, Corletto leading the Breakers from the bench and getting the recently out of form Thomas Abercrombie to look more like a basketball player than a training dummy.ay lead as the league’s most improved player, Madgen once again leading the Kings along with a stellar double double from big man Ian Crosswhite, Crosswhite leading all scorers with 22 to go with his 10 rebounds and Madgen with 20 of his own.
Jackson did however manage to include himself in the game in other ways dishing out 10 assists but it was Corletto, Abercrombie and old faithful CJ Bruton who took the game over to bring the Breakers to victory.
Another win for the Breakers just pushing them further ahead on the ladder with another game still to go in the round, can anybody catch them?
Taipans outlast the Tigers, 85 – 71
The Tigers have had an up and down season, but one thing is for sure, their main production comes from 3 key players on their roster with others filling in the role player spots as required.
Again the 3 players of note were Jonny Flynn, Seth Scott and Chris Goulding in this game, and while their efforts were heroic in trying to grab the victory for the Tigers, it just wasn’t enough with minimal contributions from their role players and bench.
The Taipans big man combination of Cam Tragardh and Alex Loughton seem to be starting to figure each other out and their production of late seems to be increasing along with it, the 2 big men for the Taipans having 30pts and 14 rebounds between them in this victory along with the floor leadership of Jamar Wilson who lead the Taipans in scoring.
In the match up of these teams struggling to get themselves into the playoff hunt the Taipans managed to get up for the victory but the Tigers chemistry seems to be growing as well, but with this victory the Taipans also grow in confidence.
Both teams will need to rally to fight each other for a chance at a playoff spot.
Wildcats take out Crocs, 62 – 59
The Crocs struggled early on in the season but since the inclusion of big man Luke Nevill into their squad were in red hot form and looked to be on the up and up.
Their sights were set on taking down the Wildcats on their home court, not a challenge many teams look forward to but with their confidence at an all time high, the Crocs took the task head on.
It looked early on as if they had caught the Cats on a bad week, the Wildcats were in great form recently lead by the resurgence of big man Matt Knight after returning from injury, the Crocs were making the Jungle crowd silent and the Wildcats look rather ordinary at times.
The Crocs seemed to be on the same page and nobody wanted to outshine anybody else, even the stat sheet was surprised to see 4 of the Crocs players all tie for the lead scoring role with 11pts a piece but one player managing 1 better to be the leading scorer with 12, that was Gary Ervin.
The Wildcats looked great defensively as usual but could barely throw a rock into the ocean shooting a terrible 32% from the field and 24% from beyond the arc.
But it was the usual suspects who managed to lead the Cats to victory, Cats Captain Shawn Redhage playing in his 250th game was not going to let the Crocs ruin his big night, and it was his big man Matt Knight and superstar guard Kevin Lisch who would also not let his big game go without victory.
Knight sealing the game with his first 3pt shot of the season at a crucial point of the game to see the momentum swing the Cats way and hold on for victory.
The Wildcats were lucky to get away with this one and hold on to the possibility of catching the Breakers for top spot, but a victory is a victory, lucky or not.
Breakers handle the Hawks, 91 – 74
Can anyone stop the Breakers, it seems not.
The Hawks were next on the Breakers hit list, and nothing they could do would stop them, the Breakers once again were just flat out dominant.
Adris Deleon did his best to keep the Hawks in the game with his game high 24pts but nobody else on the Hawks were up to the challenge of supporting him with only 2 other players scoring in double figures.
The Breakers saw the Cedric Jackson they have become accustomed to, Jackson once again leading the Breakers with another near triple double, Darryl Corletto again producing off the bench and role players like Vukona and Leon Henry picking up the slack.
The Breakers have played more games than any other team in the NBL so far and are well ahead on victory percentage than any other team in the league, but with a few short rounds for them coming up will this derail their form and allow others to get closer to them.
Tigers nix the 36ers, 87 – 80
The 36ers were considered the team to watch at one point but have just been nothing but woeful of late.
This game saw their young guns take the reins and lead them on but it just wasn’t enough, a career high game from Jason Cadee with 24pts and a game with stats expected from a star young big man of 25pts 10reb from Daniel Johnson were the only highlights for the 36ers.
The Tigers seem to be playing with a vengeance of late and are putting themselves in a position to challenge for a playoff spot, once again it was the usual trio for the Tigers leading the way.
Jonny Flynn, Seth Scott and Chris Goulding doing the damage for the Tigers, Flynn turning it up on the scoring end as well as the trash talk stakes to lead the Tigers to victory, his team high 9 assists contributing to many of the buckets made by Scott and Goulding.
The 36ers came close but the Tigers were too resilient and hung on for the much needed victory to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Can the Tigers keep rising up to challenge for a spot in the top 4, can the 36ers turn their season back around, we shall find out in the next few rounds which will determine who is a contender and who is a pretender.
Can’t Buy a Damn Thing Award
Whilst the Cairns Taipans were lighting it up from behind the arc against the Tigers, there free throws were terrible, 50% as a team, well actually split between three free throw shooters. Either way, Coach Fearne should have them practicing at the charity stripe all week.
Gimme My Change Award
There is nothing a ball fan loves more than seeing someone get their ankles broken and that is exactly what Kevin Lisch did to Peter Crawford. After crossing over PC wand watching Crawford drop to the floor Kevin Lisch took a couple of steps back and nailed the open three pointer. Watching PC shake is head after Lisch’s made three pointer was the icing on the cake.
