12 August 2012

Photo:  Louis Ilton (pictured here in 09 Arafura Games) hit 31 in victory over Razzle on Saturday night

Championship Season

Darwin Airport Resort League Results from Saturday 11 August 2012

League Women –Uni Rebels v Lightning

Lightning staged a remarkable second half comeback to edge past the Uni Rebels 65-63 Saturday night at the Darwin Basketball Stadium. Delsey Ah Wang (16), Lucy Adam (12) and Justine Schmidt (11) help the Rebels build up a 34-18 half time lead that threw out a serious challenge to Lightning if they hoped to come out winners. Jacinta Lambert took up the challenge and ignited a fight back that lifted Lightning to their third straight win of the season. Lambert hit 14 of her game high 27 points during the revival as Lightning outscored the Rebels 47-29 in the second half and watched in anticipation as Lambert nailed two free throws with only 6 seconds left in the game to seal it. Trailing by 55-43 at the beginning of the fourth quarter Lightning had clawed their way back into contention with defense by keeping the Rebels from scoring for almost 6 minutes. They hit the lead for good, 63-61, on a jumper from Lambert with 2:38 left in the game. Kelli Sealy and Brittany Ward helped carry the load with Lambert, scoring 13 each as the Lightning hit 38% from the field (Lambert hit 61%!). The Rebels didn’t help their cause as they failed at the free throw line, hitting only 3 shots from 17 attempts.

Palmerston v Tracy Village Jets

Sam Rioli set a season high with a 46 point effort in the Tracy Village Jets 75-37 victory against Palmerston at Palmerston Basketball stadium. The high flying guard also dropped in 7 three pointers during her shooting demonstration. The Bombers led 15-11 after one quarter of play but moved into another gear from thereon in as they left Palmerston floundering in their wake. Rioli shone in the second quarter when the Bombers piled on 24 poinits to 10 with Rioli hitting 16 in the frame, including 4 treys. Nyssa Curwen was best for Palmerston with 12 while Georgii Howlett from the Jets also hit double figures with 12.

Eagles v Ansett

Statistics were not available for the Eagle/Ansett clash, but it is known that Ansett upset the Eagles with a win. Summary to come.

Ladder:                   Tracy Village Jets & Lightning 3-0, Uni Rebels, Ansett & Eagles 1-2 & Palmerston 0-3

Next Week:            Tracy Village Jets v Uni Rebels 6:15pm, Palmerston v Ansett 7:45pm &                            Lightning v Eagles 9:15pm    

League Men –Uni Rebels v Palmerston

Palmerston got their first win of the season with a 77-67 upset over the Uni Rebels at the Palmerston Basketball stadium. Palmerston had to charge back from a 17-12 first quarter deficit in order to claim victory, but they did it with a number of player hitting double figures for the game. Adrien Laborde led the pack with 16, Ben Muvirimi & Mark Hamilton 15 each and Tom Hemsly 12. The Rebels had a 34-30 lead at half time due to the sharpshooting of Jake Kirby (12 of his 16), but Palmerston took control after the break with a 20-14 run led by Hamilton & Hemsly. Laborde & Hamilton then combined for 17 points to help Palmerston power away in the last quarter during a 27-19 run that put the game out of reach for the Rebels. Jarrod Sheppard from the Rebels hit a team and game high 26 with Marcus Ch’ng adding 16.

Razzle v Eagles

The Eagles hit 43% from the field and 60% from the free throw line to fly by Razzle 89-74 for their first win of the season. Louis Ilton led all scorers with 31 (@82% from the field). Henry Bui from Razzle had a league career night with his best showing for 29 (including 10 rebounds), but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Eagles who had charged out to a 28-11 first quarter lead and never looked back. Buster Perkins had a field day for the Eagles with 16 points, 10 rebs, 8 assists and 5 steals. The Razzle did manage to outscore the Eagles in the last quarter 27-21, but it was too little too late despite the effort. Phil Collins backed up Bui with 18 and Cameron McKenzie hit 16 (3 from outside the arc). Eagle Timmy Duggan hit 5 treys for his 15 point effort in support of Ilton.

Ansett v Lightning

Lightning bushwacked Ansett with a 76-56 win that surprised everybody. Hitting 34% from the field on 28/82 shooting to Ansett’s 28%, just 18 of 64 attempts Lightning forged their second win on the trot to remain undefeated. They grabbed the lead with just 3 minutes left in the first quarter and stayed ahead for the rest of the game. Zac White and Cameron Bailey both had double-doubles with White getting a game high 29 points along with 19 rebounds, Bailey was 16 and 11. Lightning led 38-28 at the half and continued on in the same vein in the second half as Ansett failed to mount a significant challenge due largely to their poor shooting from the field (just 2/12 from outside the arc) and the free throw line where they were 18 for 31. Matt Hunt led the Blues with 13 and Matthew Barrett hit 12.

Ladder:                   Ansett 2-1, Tracy Village & Lightning 2-0, Eagles & Uni Rebels 1-2, Palmerston 1-1 & Razzle 0-3

Next Week:    Eagles v Palmerston 6:15pm, Razzle v Lightning 7:45pm & Uni Rebels v Tracy Village Jets, bye: Ansett