Simon Crase | 24th July 2011| The Observer

JAMES Cripe being fouled out was more than likely the catalyst for the Port City Power’s 26-point losing margin against the Rockhampton Rockets on Saturday night.

The seven-footer copped his fourth in the third and was benched by coach Blair Smith to preserve him for the latter part of the match.

“It was disappointing when that happened

“I brought him back on the last quarter and he was off within 20 seconds,” Smith said.

Up until that stage, Power were nipping at the Rockets’ heels, trailing by only five points at three-quarter time and basically going basket for basket.

However the scoring dried up; the Power going scoreless for a ten-minute period once Cripe hit the pine.

A fast-break blitz in the last quarter saw the fourth-placed Rockets launch themselves to an easy win on the scoreboard in a result that was not indicative of the bulk of the match.

“We tried to resort to a few quick baskets but they responded with fast breaks and that killed us,” Smith said.

“Defensively we were great and I couldn’t fault the boys’ effort.”  

Gladstone’s lack of scoring options came back to haunt them in the defeat and in a familiar tale for 2011, point guard Keith Borgan top scored with 29 points, 17 ahead of the next best, big man James Cripe, the duo the only players in a Power uniform in double figures.

Dale Iwanicki’s absence is hurting and Josh Gill has been unable to rekindle his earlier form when he was reliable for 15-plus points. Gill suffered a leg injury early in the season and has been hampered ever since.

Young players such as James Farrelly are getting valuable court time and the minutes are critical for their improvement and careers.

“His progress over the past few weeks has been really good,” Smith said.

With three matches remaining, Smith said his side can still shape the playoffs, even though the Power are well out of the hunt.

“We can be quite disruptive in deciding who makes the finals,” he said.

Port City Power play Northside at Kev Broome Stadium next Saturday night.

QBL Men's result

Port City Power 63 Rockets 89

Keith Borgan 29 points, 7 assists, James Cripe 12 pts, 5 rebounds, James Farrelly 6 pts, 5 rebounds.