16 May 2012

Photo:  Kylie Duggan from Tracy Village hit 27 against the Uni Rebels in Jets win.

Darwin Airport Resort League Results from Tuesday 15 May 2012

League Women –Tracy Village Jets v Uni Rebels

Kylie Duggan (12ppg) hit a season and game high 27 points as she led the Tracy Village Jets to a huge 75-55 win against the second placed Uni Rebels. With only three games remaining in the minor rounds the schedule favours the Jets to take out the minor premiership while the Rebels will have to battle it out for the double chance with the Eagles whom they play twice before the playoffs. The Jets and Rebels were tied at 11 apiece after one quarter of play before the Bombers tore off on a second quarter 25-13 run inspired by Duggan’s best effort this year to take charge of the game, leading 36-24 at the half. Sam Rioli (16.1ppg) and Georgii Howlett (18.1ppg) chimed in with 20 and 19 for the Jets. The absence of two starters didn’t help the Rebel cause at all as most of the offensive thrust was left to be carried by Lucy Adam (18 @ 7.4ppg) and Jaylene Bonson (16 @ 18.8ppg). There wasn’t enough support to keep the Rebels in the game after the Bombers second quarter push. Frances Clarke also hit double figures for the Rebels with 10.       

Lightning v Warriors

Lightning slipped into the fourth playoff position with a 45-37 win against the Warriors. The win puts Lightning in front of Ansett by the slimmest of margins as they have beaten them twice this season with one draw. Kelli Sealy (11.3ppg) led from the front with 12 points followed by Chelsea Cook (10.6ppg) with 10. Lightning set up the win with a 15-2 first quarter run and then held off all the challenges that the Warriors launched at them for the rest of the game despite being outscored 35-30. The Warriors charged back in the second quarter to outscore Lightning 15-13, but fell behind again after half time to be down 39-26 heading into the last quarter. Nyssa Curwen (7.5ppg) led the Warriors with 12 and Jillian Pytko & Kate Smythe lent support with 7 each.

*Claire O’Bryan who played 132 games for Lightning women for 2343 points at a 17.7 ppg average has been accepted to Bucknell University in Lewisburg in central Pennsylvania, USA.  Claire represented the NT at the 2010 U/18 National titles in Terrigal, NSW and was a standout.  Another product of DBA and NT basketball J.

Ansett v Eagles

The Eagles stamped their authority on the game with Ansett early, running off 22 points to 10 in the first quarter on the way to a 68-43 win. The Birds established the early lead behind 13 points from Michelle Friel (18.7ppg) who led all scorers with 25. At the half time break the Eagles were up 34-16. Ansett clawed some points back in the third quarter after a flurry of three pointers from Kia Bond (11) and Lauren Flanegan, but the margin of 13 points was too much to pull back in the last quarter as they slipped further behind during a 23-11 Eagle run led by Trish Graham (12 @ 11.7ppg). Carla Jones (2.3ppg) led the Blues with a team and season high 15. The return of Flanegan (8.89ppg) to the Blues lineup gives hope that they can win out against Lightning in their battle to reach the playoffs while the Eagles fight out the double chance with the Rebels.

Ladder:                               Tracy Village Jets 14-2, Uni Rebels 12-4, Eagles 11-5, Lightning & Ansett 5-11, & Warriors 2-13-1

Saturday:                            Warriors v Ansett 5:00pm, Lightning v Tracy Village Jets 6:30pm & Eagles v Uni Rebels 8:00pm

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

League Men –Tracy Village Jets v Eagles

The Tracy Village Jets remain at the top of the ladder as they took home the spoils with a hard fought 94-80 win against the Eagles who were looking to grab a share of that top rung. This game had just about everything a top of the table clash should have. One coach ejected from the game and one team left with just four players standing on court in the last quarter. The Jets jumped out to a 21-10 lead after one quarter of play but then had to weather the Eagles flying back into contention until the foul count pulled them back down to earth. Travis Ellis (26.1ppg) and Michael MacLean (16.3ppg) sparked the Bombers game with 26 and 25 points and got support from Aaron Simpson (12) and Liam MacLachlan (11). The Eagles were led by Buster Perkins (28 @ 20ppg) and Charles Benning (25 @ 29.3ppg) while Joseph Johnson chipped in with 10. All three fouled out of the game in the last quarter. The Eagle coach was also sent packing after disputing calls by the officials. High drama as we head into the last few rounds before playoffs.     

Lightning v Ansett

Ansett edged past the resurgent Lightning 80-72 after trailing 56-49 heading into the last quarter. Lightning ran afoul of the officials in the last quarter getting tagged with 8 infractions to just 1 by the Blues as they saw their lead disappear and their players, three who fouled out of the game to leave just 3 on the court. Taking advantage of the situation the Blues outscored Lightning 31-16 to stage a comeback that put them in sole position of second place on the ladder after the Eagles lost to the Jets. Matthew Barrett (11.1ppg) led the Blues with 22 followed by 18 from Matt Hunt (17ppg) and 12 from Jake Feeney (12ppg). Jesse Bell (20.6ppg) had 22 before fouling out of the game. Cameron Bailey (17.9ppg) hit 18 and Thomas Godwin (7.8ppg) had 15 before he fouled out. The Blues hit 22 points from the stripe.   

Warriors v Uni Rebels

The Warriors picked up their 4^th win of the season with a comprehensive 89-65 victory over the luckless Uni Rebels who are having their worst season since the beginning of 2007 when they finished up with a 1-13 record in the Challenge competition. Leading scorer for the Warriors, Phil Collins (26ppg), was back in the line-up Tuesday night and he finished up leading the Warriors with 26 points. He was backed up by the ever consistent Ben Muvirimi (11.5ppg) who hit 16 and Rob Oliver (8.9ppg) who had 13. The Warriors wasted no time in getting out in front with a blistering 31-13 first quarter and were never headed after that running out easy winners in their best showing this season. The Rebels put up a bit of a challenge in the third quarter when they outscored the Warriors 25-13, but it was too little too late. Jake Kirby (10.6ppg) hit 17 and Jamie Hamill 15 @ 10ppg for the Rebels.      

Ladder:                   Tracy Village Jets 13-3, Ansett 12-4, Eagles 11-5, Lightning 6-9-1, Warriors 4-12, Uni Rebels 2-11-3

Saturday:                Eagles v Lightning 5:00pm, Ansett v Uni Rebels 6:30pm & Tracy Village Jets v Warriors 8:00pm

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