Chris Garry | 24th May 2011| The Queensland Times

REDEMPTION tasted extra sweet for the Ipswich Force men’s team on Saturday night.

In front of a large crowd, who attended to herald the new naming rights sponsor of the stadium Cotton On Foundation, the Force shut down their opposition in the opening quarter.

At the end of the first 12 minutes, the Force led 20-12 and from there it became academic as they defeated the Mountaineers 95-78.

It was a vital win for coach Chris Clarkson’s troops who in round one became the first team to lose to the Mountaineers in two seasons.

The Force were led by sweet shooting power forward Brad Williamson who showed his class with 24 points and 11 rebounds.

Williamson is a rare inside/outside player who can use his speed to drive past opponents bigger than him, and his size to back down a smaller player.

He can also shoot the three at an excellent percentage.

On Saturday night, Williamson had both a field goal and three point percentage of 50%, sinking 12 from 24 shot attempts.

Veteran Ryan Stolberg was also excellent. He has been the Force’s best player this season and he continued his run of 20 point-plus efforts against a small Mountaineers team while adding 12 rebounds.

The Force is 2-2 this season.

Coach Clarkson said the difference between Saturday night’s effort and their round one performance against the Mountaineers was attention to detail.

“We did the small things right this time,” Clarkson said.

“It was a good win for us. One we needed.

“We shut them down in the first quarter and restricted them to 12 points and from there they never got close to us.”

Clarkson said his team was still taking too many “one pass shots”.

“Last night they went in for us, which is what happens sometimes, but we need to take more time in our offence and find the best option instead of just shooting with a man in front of us,” Clarkson said.

Clarkson praised the efforts of recruit Josh Black, a Logan junior, who has just returned from the American college system.

Black resembles a rugby league hooker and is admittedly 10 kilograms overweight after not playing the game for six weeks during his final exams for college.

Black had a poor shooting night on Saturday but did have 11 assists. “Getting double figure in assists is very difficult in the QBL,” Clarkson said.

“He showed how well he can play and when he gets a bit more training in him, he will be even better for us.”

Women fire

THE Ipswich Ipswich Force women also had another terrific win, easily accounting for the Mountaineers 71-56.

The women are 4-0 so far this season.

Emma Langford was again outstanding as was captain Amber Bartels.

The Force men’s and women’s teams play the South West Metro at their newly-crowned Cotton On Foundation Stadium on Saturday night.

State of play
Men’s state league results: Ipswich Force 95 (Brad Williamson 24 pts, 11 rbs; Ryan Stolberg 20 pts, 12 rbs; Tim Behrendorff 16 pts; 7 rbs) def Toowoomba Mountaineers 78 ( James Legan 26 pts; Rashad Chase 16 pts, 15 rbs) at Cotton On Foundation Stadium.

Women’s state league results: Ipswich Force 71 (Emma Langford 24 pts, 14 rbs; Shannon Wellings 15 pts; Amber Bartels 10 pts) def Toowoomba Mountaineers 56 (Jennifer Chard 16 pts; Jodi Orchin pts) at Cotton On Foundation Stadium.