NewsMail - Vince Habermann | 31st July 2011

BASKETBALL: It was business as usual for the Bundaberg Radiology Bears as they recorded their eighth straight victory in the QBL with an 89-51 drubbing of Northside Wizards yesterday.

The Bundaberg men’s side, the Bulls, then made it a home double for the day by putting a tumultuous week behind then by also outgunning the Wizards 99-74 despite having just seven players for the match.
The Bears were hot favourites for their game, and they hit the ground running, establishing a 23-14 lead by quarter-time, and they never relented, increasing their advantage in every term.

Their Americans Yvonne Turner and Kisha Lee were again outstanding, with the former heading the scoring with 21 points, and the latter landing 16 to go with her nine rebounds.

Alice Honnery also achieved the excellent double of 16 points and 12 rebounds but what may have pleased coach Dean Page most was that every one of their 11 players in the game were among the points in another testimony to their strength and depth.

The Bears, who now have a 14-3 win-loss record and had already clinched third place on the ladder and a home semi-final, will now take on leaders Gladstone at home in their last fixture match this Saturday in what will be a perfect lead-up to the play-offs.

The Bulls had bombed out of finals contention with road losses to Ipswich and Toowoomba the previous weekend.

Bundaberg Basketball’s QBL Committee then dropped a bomb-shell on Wednesday when they announced that two of their stars, stalwart Todd Meyerding and Nello Giordano were cut from the team by recently appointed coach Danny Page for “discipline reasons”.

But despite playing for pride from a season perspective, the remaining players responded in the best way possible, staying in the arm-wrestle to be ahead 40-38 at half-time after scores had been locked together at 22-all at quarter-time.

The Bulls then went for the kill with a 33-17 third term before also taking the last quarter 26-19.
Star American imports Will Shackleford and Matt Hanson both played the full 40 minutes, amassing 23 and 24 points respectively, while the former also racked up 21 rebounds in another heavyweight all-round performance.
Shane Davis and Kyle Keirnan also chipped in with 22 and 18 points respectively, while Keirnan’s younger brother Jared also stepped up to help fill the void and played more than 12 good minutes on debut and joined in the party with seven points.

The Bulls remain in ninth place on the ladder and will get a chance to finish their season on a high against Gladstone, who are two positions below them.