SEABL WOMEN - SECOND HALF SETS UP KNOX WOMEN'S FOURTH VICTORY

The Knox Ford Raiders SEABL Women’s team have recorded their fourth victory for season 2010 with a 73-58 point win over the Frankston Lady Blues (1-7) at the Frankston Basketball Centre on Sunday afternoon.

Playing without Emily Fryters the Raiders looked flat for the majority of the first half as the Lady Blues who were also playing undermanned took it up to their opposition looking for just their second victory of the year.

Raiders import Amy Denson opened up her team’s scoring with a two point basket to start the match as the Raiders looked to force their opposition into some early turnovers with extended full court pressure on defence. The pressure paid off for Coach Heath Anderson’s squad as the Lady Blues committed nine first quarter turnovers.

Despite the home side’s shaky ball handling, the Lady Blues hung tough and trailed by just two points at the end of the first behind Mikaela Dombkins 11 opening quarter points.

Both teams shot the ball poorly in the second quarter with the Raiders scoring just nine points for the term. The Lady Blues notched up just 11 of their own but it was good enough to have the game tied at 26 a piece at half-time.

After playing a sub-par first half the Raiders cranked up their defensive intensity in the third quarter and found the bottom of the net much easier thanks in part to the contributions of Lill Keane and Rachael Waterhouse who were offensive sparks for the Raiders. At the three quarter time the Raiders had set themselves up an 11 point advantage.

The lead never went under double figures in the fourth as the game opened up for both teams on the offensive end. The Raiders stretched the lead to as much as 21 during the fourth but the Lady Blues pegged the final margin back to 15.

Leading the scoring for the Raiders was Lill Keane with 19 points and 7 rebounds and Amy Denson with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, whilst Rachael Waterhouse and Odette Andrew both reached double figures with 10 each.

For the Lady Blues it was Mikaela Dombkins who finished with 17 points and 5 rebounds whilst past Raiders players Natasha Main (12 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists) and Elli Lovelace (11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals) provided the Lady Blues with good production.

The Raiders currently sit one spot out of the finals race at seventh with a 4-3 record and will shift focus to the Apple Isle this coming weekend when the team travels to Tasmania to face off against Launceston (6-2) on Friday and Hobart (0-8) on Saturday.

SEABL MEN - RAIDERS SPLIT AWAY DOUBLE IN NATION'S CAPITAL

Travelling to the Nation’s capital without import Lester Strong who is still recovering from a car accident, the Knox Ford Raiders split their two game away double against the Australian Institute of Sport (2-3) and the Canberra Gunners (2-6) leaving the team sitting in fifth spot on the East Conference ladder with a 4-5 record after the first seven rounds of the season.

First up for the Raiders were the AIS on Friday evening. The opening quarter was a tightly contested ten minutes of action but it was the visiting Raiders who held the one point advantage at the end of the first term.

The second quarter saw the AIS have their best quarter of the game as the young legs of the youngest team in the league started to have an impact on the Raiders, who managed just 15 points for the period and faced a seven point margin at the main break.

Led by CJ Massingale (36 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals) in the second half, the Raiders made inroads into the AIS lead and cut the margin to just three as they entered the fourth.

The AIS extended their lead to as much as eight with just over seven minutes remaining and looked poised to run over the top of the tiring Raiders outfit but the Raiders were able to fight themselves back into the ballgame and with two minutes left hit the front by two from a pair of Massingale free throws. The home side responded the next possessions to tie the game up and after multiple misses from both sides in the closing stages, the game headed into overtime.

The Raiders never led in the overtime period but were able to tie the match with a Mick Hill (11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists) two point make with nine ticks to go as the game looked like it was going to go into double overtime but a controversial call against Sean Carroll (7 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals) sent Anthony Drmic to the free throw line for three shots with 0.4 seconds left. Drmic would make two of three and give the AIS the 95-93 victory.

Stepping up to fill the void of Strong was John Philip who recorded a valuable double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Providing some support on the inside for Philip was Cam Rigby who notched up 14 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists.

Anthony Drmic and Mitchell Creek led the way for the AIS with 24 and 23 points respectively.

On Saturday night, the Raiders were looking down the barrel of a 3-6 record with a loss against Canberra who have proved to be a hard team for the Raiders to beat at home over the years.

With fatigue playing a major factor with a depleted line up and a tough overtime match one night earlier the Raiders showed great resiliency and persistence against the Gunners and had all eight suited up players score with four players scoring in double-figures, guiding them to a 79-68 victory.

After a 18-18 stalemate at the end of the first quarter, the Raiders turned it up in the second and outscored their opponent 22-15 giving themselves a handy seven point advantage at half-time.

The Raiders led for the majority of the third term but it was the home team that went into the final quarter with the momentum as they reeled the lead back to just two at the end of the third.

Back-to-back three pointers by Cam Rigby and Alex Vanrenen two minutes into the fourth saw the momentum shift back to the Raiders as the visiting side ran out with the 11 point win.

CJ Massingale again led all scorers with 21 points @ 54%, 4 rebounds and 4 assists and continues to lead the league in scoring. John Philip racked up his second consecutive double-double with 13 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks whilst Captain Sean Carroll (14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) and Cam Rigby (13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals) provided good scoring assistance.

For the Gunners it was Zlatko Todorovski with 17 points and 3 rebounds and Jonathon Miller with 13 points and 9 rebounds who led the way for the home side.

The Raiders will again play two road games this upcoming weekend when they face the Ballarat Miners (5-6) on Saturday and then the Frankston Blues (1-8) on Sunday where the Hog’s Breath Cup will be awarded after the final leg is completed between the Knox and Frankston associations.