Buccs not panicking yet (Geraldton Guardian)
IT was not the start to the season Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers coach Ray Evans wanted but he is not reaching for the panic button just yet.
“The guys played their hearts out against Cockburn but just ran out of legs in the end,” Evans said.
The Buccaneers returned to Geraldton winless from their first road trip of the season after the Cockburn Cougars inflicted the Buccs’ second loss in as many days yesterday.
Cockburn outlasted the Buccs 91-84 in a seesawing affair, one day after Mandurah embarrassed the Buccaneers 91-69.
To rub salt into the Buccs’ wounds, 18-year-old point guard Luke Wrensted is expected to miss four or five weeks after suffering an ankle injury on Saturday night.
Evans said there was no disgrace in the way his team lost yesterday.
“I am a lot happier now than I was last night because the way we played after half-time against Mandurah was embarrassing,” he said. “I am very proud of the boys and how they played today.”
Everard Bartlett led the way yesterday with 33 points while Aaron Ralph scored 29 to go with his 27 against Mandurah.
At three-quarter time the Buccaneers held a three-point lead but could not put their opponents to the sword.
Evans said his side could not expect to win with a two-headed scoring attack.
“Once we get (Ben) Pepper, (Todd) Brown and (Michael) Lay back we will be fine,” he said.
“We now have four home games to get the squad together and healthy and turn this thing around.”
Evans’ men started their season on the wrong foot against the Mandurah Magic on Saturday night.
Mandurah scored a comfortable 91-69 point victory after trailing at half time.
After putting up 24 points in the first quarter, the Buccaneers scored just 45 the rest of the way.
Ralph and Bartlett shouldered the scoring load scoring 27 and 20 points respectively.
The team shot a combined 30 per cent from the floor against the Magic and netted only 43 per cent of their 30 free throw attempts.
Article by Taylor Courtland (Geraldton Guardian)
Photo by Anni Fordham
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