4 December 2012

Photo:   Sam Drescher (pictured in a game v Jets) hit a season high  37pts against Lightning, but it wasn't enough to stop Lightning's advance to the Grand Final against the Jets on Saturday night.

Championship Season

Darwin Airport Resort League Results from Tuesday 3 December 2012

Preliminary finals

League Women –Lightning v Ansett

Lightning overcame the Blues from Ansett in overtime with a thrilling come from behind 62-59 win that launched them into Grand Final contention on Saturday. The last time Lightning won the League Grand Final was in 2009 against Ansett and this marks the fourth time in the last five years that they will have contested the end of season event. The game began very defensively with Ansett leading 8-5 in a low scoring opening quarter. The second quarter saw the Blues get into a rhythm quicker than Lightning, staging a 20-13 run led by Sam Drescher (22.4ppg) for a handy 28-18 half time lead. After the break Lightning worked their way back into the game in the third quarter behind Brittany Ward (19 @ 16ppg), Jacinda Lambert (25 & 16 rebs) and Emma Carbone to trail by only 5 at 38-33. In the last quarter Lightning clawed their way back with Lambert putting them in front 47-46 with 4:26 left to play. The game then turned into a see-saw affair. Ansett’s Carla Jones hit a basket with 1:35 left to put the Blues up 51-49. Ansett then called a time out with 48 seconds remaining which played into Lightning’s hands as they forced a turnover and got the ball to Lambert (17.5ppg) who hit a two pointer with 16 seconds left to tie the game up. Now we are into overtime. Despite the effort of Drescher in overtime (she scored all Ansett’s points) the Lightning prevailed. Ward (hit 9 of 11 Lightning points in quarter) put the Lightning up 60-59 with 14 seconds to go and then nailed two free throws for good measure at the 10 second mark. The Blues called a timeout and set up a play for Drescher, but she missed a three point attempt. Drescher led all scorers with a 37 point game plus 12 boards.

The Grand Final matchup between Tracy Village Jets and Lightning gives the Jets the edge as they have defeated Lightning in five straight games. Largest margin was a 12 point win, but all the rest are between 2 and 7 points. All things point to another interesting clash between the rivals.  

Ladder:                                           Tracy Village Jets 20-1, & Lightning & Ansett 14-8, Eagles 8-13, Uni Rebels 5-15, & Palmerston 1-19

Saturday Grand Final:                               Tracy Village Jets v Lightning 6:30pm

League Men –Lightning v Tracy Village Jets

The Tracy Village Jets have landed in another Grand Final after slipping past minor premier Lightning 66-61. The Jets get a shot at Ansett in the big game on Saturday and it will be their 11^th appearance out of the last 13 Championship Seasons, an unprecedented milestone that is unlikely to be repeated soon. Captain Michael MacLean played his best game of the season, leading from the front with a game and team high 31 points (a season high). The Bombers wasted no time in asserting their claim to the game with a 20-9 first quarter run that put the Lightning behind the eight ball immediately. By half time the score was 31-17 and all that remained was to see if Lightning would respond to the challenge. Both teams committed an extraordinary amount of turnovers during the game, Lightning 24 and the Jets 28. The only other stat that stood out was shooting percentage. The Bombers hit 34% to 28% for Lightning and they both put up just over 70 shots each. MacLean (11.3ppg) hit 55% on 11/20 shooting from the field, while the usual guns for Lightning, Jesse Bell (36%), Zac White (27%) and Cameron Baily (30%), found it tough going against the stiff defense from the Bombers. Lightning lifted in the second half, outscoring the Bombers 44-35, but it was too little too late for the minor premiers. Bailey (13.8ppg) hit a team high 15 for Lightning with Bell (18ppg) and White (21ppg) on 11 each. Travis Ellis (25pp) lent support to MacLean with 12.

The Grand Final matchup between Ansett and the Tracy Village Jets favour’s Ansett who have won two out of the three encounters this season. Only one game was a blowout while the other two were won by less than 5 points which would point to a close tussle between the teams. Ansett last won a GF in 1999 while the Bombers won five years ago in 2007.

 

Ladder:                                           Ansett 15-4, Lightning 14-6, Tracy Village Jets 13-7, Rebels 9-10, Eagles 9-9, Palmerston 4-14 & Razzle 2-15

Saturday Grand Final:                        Ansett v Tracy Village Jets 8:30pm