Lightning strike for opening night victory
Lakeside Lightning made the perfect start to the State Basketball League season with a 98-71 thrashing of Kalamunda Eastern Suns at Lakeside Recreation Centre on Friday night.
The Lightning, who lost the 2010 Grand Final to Willetton, jumped out to a 28-point lead at half-time and cruised to the opening round victory from there.
Import forward Ben Beran only received his immigration clearance on the day of the game but still led Lakeside with 29 points and 21 rebounds, including 12 on the offensive end, while substitute guard Brad Jackson hit seven three-pointers on his way to 28 points.
But the victory wasn’t enough to please Lakeside coach Andy Stewart, who said his side must improve to go one better than their 2010 finish.
“I was disappointed in a lot of key areas that we should be better at, so we’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said.
“I can’t remember the last time we had that many turnovers in a game. And we gave up a lot of offensive rebounds too.”
Veteran centre Justin Brown top-scored for Kalamunda with 16 points, while import Dean Hadley had seven points and eight rebounds in his debut for the club.
The Suns finished 13th last year with a disappointing 7-19 record and have a long way to go to avoid a similar finish in 2011 after they shot just 32 per cent from the field and had 31 turnovers, eight more than Lakeside.
In the women’s game, Kalamunda overran the Lightning in the last quarter to claim a 64-56 victory.
The Lightning pipped the Suns for the eighth finals spot last year but the visitors showed they’re capable of sneaking into the playoffs this season with an impressive performance.
Kalamunda trailed with less than seven minutes to go and the scores were tied with four minutes left, but the Suns scored 13 of the last 18 points to claim an important victory.
Young guard Chelsea Armstrong led the Suns with 20 points while Melissa Moyle added 16 points and 10 rebounds. Lakeside import Heidi McNeill top-scored for her side with 15 points.
Article by Jacob Kagi at Lakeside Recreation Centre
Photo by Photo by Grant Lauterbach.
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