Monday, 26th March, 2010

The Be Active Perth Wheelcats, winners of 4 of the past 5 NWBL championships, were simply too big and too accurate for the WheelKings who lost both home games to their feline foes on the weekend.

GAME 1
Saturday night's game at the Sydney Uni Sports and Aquatic Centre was played before a good crowd who were looking forward to a tight contest. Perth had travelled to Sydney without their gun ball-handler, Australian Roller Sean Norris. Also missing were high-scoring big men Robert Pike and Brant Garvey.

Unfortunately for the WheelKings, 6'7" centre Adam Deans was able to make the flight. He imposed himself on the game very quickly as he got inside the key, delivering 13 of Perth's 21 first quarter points as well as establishing early control of the boards with 5 rebounds.

Deans outscored the entire WheelKings team which registered just 10 points as they got off to what has become a typically slow start this season. The good news was that the WheelKings were moving the ball well to find the open player with CG Grogan, Kylie Gauci, Craig Cannane and Josh Meoli all getting on the scoresheet in the first quarter.

Missed opportunity was the story for Sydney Uni in the second period as they had plenty of good looks at the rim but failed to convert. The Wheelcats meanwhile continued their dominance as they took the quarter 16-8 to establish a 19 point half-time lead. Deans took his tally to 17 while speedy guard Kim Robins was causing fits with his pace, scoring 12 points and handing out 4 assists. Grogan was leading the WheelKings with 6 points, and Gauci and Cannane had contributed 4 apiece.

After a rev-up from Coach Hewson during the main break, the WheelKings looked a lot better on both ends of the court. They matched it with Perth but still couldn't do enough to cut back the lead. 20 year veteran Cannane worked really hard against the bigger Wheelcats front line, picking up 6 points to lead all scorers for the quarter.

Still trailling by 20, Sydney Uni again took it to their rivals but could do no more than eventually tie the final term 13-13. Grogan found his shooting touch to drop in 7 points and, for Perth, Australian Glider Amber Merritt also scored 7, using her considerable height to great advantage.

The final score of 63-43 in Perth's favour reflected Sydney's inability to put in a decent opening quarter on the offensive end. The home team matched the visitors in the second half but the major damage had been done. Everyone was hoping for a much better start in Sunday's game.

Perth Leaders: Adam Deans 23 points, 14 rebounds; Kim Robins 21 points, 4 assists; Amber Merritt 11 points

Sydney Leaders: CJ Grogan 15 points, 8 rebounds; Craig Cannane 12 points; Kylie Gauci 8 points, 7 assists

Full stats: http://www.fibalivestats.com/matches/17/05/03/27/26wNxOLCNiT3k/

GAME 2
Coach Hewson's Sunday game plan was to keep Adam Deans out of the key and to cut off Kim Robin's ability to leak out on the fast break. Both strategies worked well as Perth's key scorers were restricted to a combined 13 points in the first quarter. In fact, Deans scored the first 4 points but was kept to just 2 for the rest of the term.

What was surprising was the contribution from 3 other players who don't often feature in the scoring column. Jake Cavanagh, Sam Clark and Ryan Morich combined for 10 points in the first quarter when they'd only scored 8 in the entire game the night before.

Meanwhile, the WheelKings were turning the ball over and not making their shots. Perth jumped to a 17-4 lead before some heroics from veterans Kylie Gauci and Craig Cannane bought the WheelKings within 7 with 2 minutes left in the quarter. It was Cavanagh who then stepped up for Perth as he scored the final points of the quarter to give the Wheelcats a 23-12 lead.

In scenes reminiscent from the night before, the WheelKings could no longer contain Robins and he went on a rampage as he continually worked his way inside to score 16 points by the half. Deans was again well-held and added just 4 points to his score. Kylie Gauci went on her own assault as she tallied 14 points by half-time on 7 of 10 shooting to have by far the best WheelKings burst of the weekend.

Perth led 46-28 at the half before putting in another consistent quarter to lead 70-38 at three-quarter time. Sydney Uni were turning the ball over too much, not making their shots (5 of 15 attempts) and getting killed on the boards (11-5 advantage to Perth). The WheelKings had only 4 players doing any scoring while the Wheelcats had 8 scorers going into the last period.

The WheelKings convincingly won the last quarter 17-7 to regain some respectability but it was a case of too little, too late. Importantly, the 77-55 loss hasn't really dented the WheelKings hopes of achieving their goal of making the finals. There are 3 tough games coming up against current NWBL champions Wollongong Roller Hawks but a strong showing against Adelaide and Dandenong in the last 5 games of the season will put Sydney Uni in the top 4.

Perth Leaders: Kim Robins 23 points, 6 assists; Adam Deans 16 points, 9 rebounds; Sam Clark 11 points, 9 rebounds

Sydney Leaders: CJ Grogan 16 points, 8 rebounds; Craig Cannane 14 points, 11 rebounds; Kylie Gauci 14 points, 7 assists

Full stats: http://www.fibalivestats.com/matches/17/05/03/53/80B9OWBYA3ISw/

Photos: (top) Kylie Gauci on the drive against Sam Clark and (bottom) CJ Grogan makes the layup

Photos courtesy of Maxwell Illingworth. More photos by Max at http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.368071566566455.84678.120408607999420&type=3