August 2, 2014

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Championship Season

Darwin Airport Resort League Results from 1 August 2014

League Women – Tracy Village Jets v Lightning

Tracy Village racked up 31 points in the first quarter to just 6 for the Lightning as they ran out easy winners with an 81-50 victory in the first game of the season. The Jets Abby Cubillo came out firing and finished up with a game and career high 38 points (Cubillo was last season’s high pointer in women’s league with 35). There was plenty of support as all six Bombers got into the scoring column. After the disastrous first quarter the Lightning almost matched the Bombers in points scored with Cindy Ballich hitting 13, Darcy Baggley 12 and Bonnie Illingworth 11, but the deficit was too much to overcome for the young side. Sam Rioli and Erin Geer also hit double figures for the Bombers with 12 and 10. And…the Bombers are on another winning streak, this time it is 6.

Uni Rebels v Eagles

The Uni Rebels just pipped the Eagles 43-41 in a nail biter that went down to the wire. A final shot by veteran Chantelle Lee close to the end gave last season’s Grand Final runner-ups victory at the buzzer. The Eagles were up 24-18 at half time, but slipped behind by one point after three quarters of play as the Rebels charged into the lead 33-31 with a 15-8 run inspired by Lee who rattled off 9 consecutive points’ midway through the quarter. Jaylene Boundry led all scorers with 20 points for the Rebels while Haley Adkins knocked down 16 for the Eagles.

Ansett v Palmerston Power

Palmerston failed to field a team for the opening round handing the game to Ansett 20-0.

Ladder after Round 1:                                  Tracy Village Jets, Uni Rebels & Ansett 1-0, Eagles, Lightning & Palmerston 0-1

Next Week Round 2:                                    Palmerston v Uni Rebels 6:15pm, Tracy Village Jets v Eagles 7:45pm & Lightning v Ansett 9:15pm

League Men – Uni Rebels v Razzle

Last seasons’ Mens League champs, the Uni Rebels, launched their Championship Season campaign with a 99-61 thumping of the Razzle. The dynamic scoring duo of Tim Morris and John King kicked off their scoring title hopes with games of 47 and 27 points respectively. Unless teams can clamp down on these two, or at least one of them, the Rebels will again be contestants in the end of year GF. Razzle managed to stay close after one quarter of play, trailing by 4 at 21-17, but from that point onward they were scrambling just to stay in touch with the Rebels. Ben Cowcher led the green and gold with 16 with help from Brandan Dell 14 and David Carroll 11.

Palmerston snuck past last season’s GF runners-up Lightning 75-70 to start their season. Palmerston has bolstered it team roster with a couple of very experienced guards in local product Timmy Duggan who played for the Cairns Taipans in the Australian NBL and Bayi Handy who played for the now defunct Warriors back in 2009. Handy still has a couple of DBA records to his name: 147 Free Throws for a season and 23 ‘freebies’ in a game. These two additions will shore up the Power’s lineup and provide match-up problems for most of the other teams in the competition. The Power took an early 26-15 lead after one quarter, lost the second and third quarters by 48-31 and then grabbed the lead back with a 18-7 run in the last quarter. Handy had 15, Josh Fosdick 14, Duggan 12 and Robbie Wilson 10. Cameron Bailey & Karsten Oltrop had 19 each for the Lightning with Tom Godwin supporting on 17.

Eagles v Tracy Village Jets

The Tracy Village Jets won the mens league ‘cliff-hanger’ by edging past the Eagles with a couple of late free throws to claim a 72-70 victory. Michael MacLean & Jayden Adams hit a free throw apiece as the Eagles desperately tried to gain possession of the ball for a last gasp shot. Things were looking ominous for the Jets as the Eagles grabbed a 24-9 first quarter lead, but the Bombers took the initiative and fought back for the next three quarters to finally get the crucial points they needed to win. Darren Weetra led the Jets with 22 points (including 5 treys) Adams had 20 and MacLean 15. James Silvie from the Eagles led all scorers with 30 while playmaking guard Reese Turner hit 18.

Ladder after Round 1:                                  Uni Rebels, Tracy Village Jets & Palmerston 1-0,   Eagles, Lightning & Razzle 0-1 and Ansett 0-0,

Next week Round 2:  Razzle v Palmerston Power 6:15pm, Uni Rebels v Tracy Village Jets 7:45pm & Lightning v Ansett 9:15pm. Eagles have the bye