September 22, 2013

Photo:  Eagle juniors!

Championship Season

Darwin Airport Resort League Results from Friday 20 September 2013

League Women –Tracy Village Jets v Uni Rebels

Another top transitional game from the league leading Tracy Village Jets enabled the Bombers to sweep aside the Uni Rebels 91-57 for their 10 straight win of the competition. The Jets blew the game wide open in the second quarter after a tight tussle in the first. Leading 17-14 after one quarter the Bombers went on the attack and ran up 29 points to just 9 for the Rebels for a big 46-23 half time lead and never looked back. The absence of two starters from the Rebel lineup (Jaylene Bonson & Delsey Ah Wang) didn’t help the Rebel cause at all as they barely matched the output from the Bombers for the rest of the game, being outgunned 46-34 in the second half. Tikesa Docherty-Cole had a sensational game racking up a season and team high 25 (17 in the second half) with support from Kylie Duggan (14.8ppg) & Sam Rioli (18.3ppg) with 17 each and Abby Cubillo with 11. Rebel Dana Rommel continued her fine form (15.2ppg) with a team high 21 with Tamara Sheppard added 12. The win was the 17^th in a row for the Bombers.

Palmerston v Lightning

Lightning slipped back into second place on the ladder with a 47-30 win against bottom dwelling Palmerston who have yet to put a ‘w’ in the column. The game wasn’t a blow-out by any means, but the Power just couldn’t match it with the Lightning. A solid second quarter by Lightning, led by Lucy Murray (10.8ppg) who hit 9 of her team and game high 20 points, gave the Lightning a handy 29-14 lead at the major break. The Power put up a stronger challenge in the second half, only outscored by two points 18-16, but they failed to make any inroads into the lead Lightning had built up in the first half. Starkitsha Higgins (12.1ppg) added 10 in support of Murray while Jennifer Kinsella (7ppg) was the only Power player to hit double figures with 11.

Eagles v Ansett

Ansett and the Eagles played out the closest game of the night with the Blues nipping the Birds by a 43-41 margin. The victory let the Blues into the top four for the first time this season, relegating the Birds to a spot just outside the final four. The Eagles held a one point advantage at the half way mark 25-24, but the Blues got the upper hand in a low scoring third quarter when Lauren Flanegan nailed a three-pointer to give the Blues a 31-29 lead heading into the last term. Try as they might the Eagles never breeched that two point lead as the teams fought it out on even terms scoring 12 each through the quarter. The League’s leading scorer, Sam Drescher (152pts), led the Blues again with 18 points, getting help from Flanegan who finished up on 11. Eagle Kymira Woodberry (League’s best average @ 21.4ppg) also hit 18 and she had support from Lydia O’Grady with 12.

Ladder:                                                      Tracy Village Jets 10-0, Lightning & Uni Rebels 6-1-3, Ansett 4-6, Eagles 3-7 & Palmerston 0-10

Next Week Round 11:                   Eagles v Uni Rebels 6:15pm, Palmerston v Ansett 7:45pm & Lightning v Tracy Village Jets 9:15pm                          

League Men –Eagles v Razzle

The Eagles stayed one game ahead of second placed Palmerston with a solid 78-60 win against the Razzle. The Birds won the game fairly easily considering they were missing a couple of starters in Louis Ilton and Ernest Holmes. Buster Perkins (29) and Joseph Johnson (13 @ 12ppg) filled in admirably for the missing pair, combining for 42 points with Jarrod Sheppard adding 11 and Jesse Williams-Hook (11.8ppg) dropping 10. The Birds took an early 14-11 lead in the first quarter and expanded that into a 36-29 half time margin with Williams-Hook hitting 8 of his total in the second quarter. The Razzle rallied in the third quarter with a 19-15 run ignited by Brendan Dell (15.6ppg) and Ben Cowcher (8.4ppg), but they still trailed by 13 points with a quarter to go. The fourth quarter was all Eagles as they took off on another flight of scoring with Perkins (17.2ppg) hitting 10 and Johnson 9 during a 27-12 run to wrap up the victory. Dell finished up with 16, Cowcher 14 and James Panton added 10 for the green and gold.

Palmerston v Uni Rebels

Palmerston and the Uni Rebels were involved in the lowest scoring game of the season with the Power storming back from a 23-12 half-time deficit to win a cliff-hanger 47-46. The last bucket scored by the winners came on a three pointer from newcomer Eruera McCullough. Whether by design or circumstance the teams battled out the game with more defense than offense, something neither side does often. Jesse Bell (21ppg) from the Power led all scorers with 17 points with team mates McCullough on 12 and Shaquille Hohipa-Wilson on 11, well below his 22ppg average. The lone Rebel in double figures was Lucci Cornelius on 14. Bell was held to just 2pts in the first half but ignited the Power in the second half as they rattled off 35 points to 23 for the Rebels to claim the win.

Ansett v Lightning

Ansett flew back into the winner’s circle with a 65-52 win against Lightning that gets them one game closer to the final four. The Blues made amends for their Round 3 loss to Lightning by getting out of the gate early with a 13-9 first quarter run led by John King. The Blues held onto that four point buffer until the third quarter when they scorched Lightning to the tune of 20-7 for an unassailable 51-34 lead heading into the fourth and final quarter. Lightning did outscore the Blues in the final term, by 4 points 18-14, but it wasn’t enough to overhaul the lead the Blues had established. Daniel Florance (24.4ppg) led the Blues with a game high 24 with King (17ppg) finishing up with 15. The only player to hit double figures for Lightning was their team leader Cameron Bailey (15.5ppg) with 18.

Ladder:                                           Eagles 8-1, Palmerston 7-1, Tracy Village Jets 5-2, Uni Rebels 4-5, Ansett 3-5, Lightning 2-6 & Razzle 0-9

Round 11games for Saturday the 21^st of September to be rescheduled

Next Week Round 12:           Lightning v Palmerston 6:15pm, Tracy Village Jets v Eagles 7:45pm & Ansett v Razzle 9:15pm. Bye-Uni Rebels