IT was a night to forget for the Port City Power as they crumbled to a 30 point loss against Rockhampton Rockets in the QBL local derby at Kev Broome Stadium on Saturday.

Keith Borgan came out firing for Gladstone with a couple of nice early drives to the hoop but the Power’s points in the paint dried up from then onward as the home team struggled to penetrate.

 A horror second quarter saw Rockhampton’s six point lead bloat to 18 by the main break with Power seven footer James Cripe unable to impose himself on the game, while at the other end Pero Vasiljeric and Travis Reed were scoring almost at will.

The rot ensued for Gladstone in the second half, with nothing dropping for the Power and everything working for the Rockets as the lead swelled to 68-45 at three quarter time.

With the game all but lost, Power youngster James Farrelly found five points and three assists in 10 minutes of court time and impressed coach Blair Smith with his efforts in the lost cause.

“He came on and did a great job in the last quarter,” Smith said.

“Those were his first minutes in the QBL and he did really well.”

The Power shot just 35% from the field, including two from 14 three point attempts, in the frustrating loss which was cause for concern for Smith heading into four games on the road.

“It was a pretty lacklustre performance,” he said.

“Our offence is generated by our defence and our defence wasn’t good enough. We weren’t in the lanes, we weren’t pressuring and we got back doored that many times.

“We try to generate pressure so we get our transition and the offence flows but if you’re taking the ball out of the net all night it’s very hard to penetrate when they’re down there set up and ready to go.”

Rockhampton 96

Travis Reed: 23 points, 9 rebounds

Pero Vasiljeric: 20 point, 15 rebounds, 5 assists

Gladstone 66

Keith Borgan: 18 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists

James Cripe: 11 points, 11 rebounds