March 29, 2015

Photo: Razzle men won their first game of the season led by coach/player Rob Oliver who hit 19pts in 79-53 win against Ansett. Shown here v Lightning.

Challenge Season

Darwin Basketball Association League Results from Thursday & Friday 26/27 March 2015

Round 8

League Women Thursday – Tracy Village Jets v Razzle

The Tracy Village Jets are still sporting an unblemished record in the League competition as they extended their record to 9-0 after trouncing the Razzle 76-33. Tania Dhu (11.7ppg) surprised a few spectators with a barrage of three pointers within her game high total of 20 points. Dhu hit five from outside the arc and team mate Tahnee Maxwell (7.2ppg) lent support with 17 points. The Bombers were well and truly on their way to another win after limiting the Razzle to just 9 first half points while scoring 40. The Razzle were flying high coming into this game with a two game win streak, but the Bombers brought them right back down to earth. Four players for the Razzle hit 6 points each.

Lightning v Eagles

The Eagles flew past a lackluster Lightning outfit 50-32 to get back into the win column. After dropping their last two games the Birds regained their shooting touch to once again be on the winning end of a game. Lightning’s downfall was their failure to score as they struggled to put the ball in the hoop. Michelle Friel (17.4ppg) was back on court to lead the Eagles again with 19 points while Kristina Martinson & Lillian Williams (9.3ppg) added 12 each. Bonnie Illingworth (6.3ppg) was the only Lightning player to hit double figures with 12.

Ansett v Uni Rebels

The Uni Rebels got back into the win column after two straight losses with a 54-30 win over Ansett. The win put the Rebels in sole possession of third place on the ladder and they did it with balanced scoring and stingy defense. Edith Boundry & Ambah Kowcun set the tempo for the Rebels as they charged off on a 15-0 first quarter run that blew out to a 26-6 half time lead from which the Blues never recovered. Kowcun (11.8ppg) led the Rebels with 17 and had help from Edith Boundry (8.1ppg) with 11 and Danielle Ponter with 10. Clancy Dorman (11ppg) was the only double digit scorer for the Blues with 13.

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

Next Week Round 9 April 10:                     Thursday: Uni Rebels v Eagles 7:45pm Friday: Ansett v Tracy Village Jets 6:15pm & Lightning v Razzle 7:45pm

Saturday Round 18 April 11:                        Lightning v Eagles 5:00pm, Ansett v Uni Rebels 6:30pm & Tracy Village Jets v Razzle 8:00pm

League Men Thursday – Eagles v Uni Rebels

The Eagles stopped the unbeaten Uni Rebels in their tracks with a 95-89 win. The game was flat out run-and-gun with not much separating the teams at any stage. Luckily for the Eagles they had just acquired the services of Nigerian Deola Folarin a 6’6” forward who adds a lot of clout to the Eagle side. Folarin hit 28 points in support of Chris Hart (23ppg) who had a game high 29 in his last game for the Birds before flying south to join the Gold Coast in the SBL. Folarin has played in the Malaysian League and will fill in the vacancy created by Hart. The Rebels only had five players suited up which put a lot of pressure on them to not foul out and they did a commendable job despite the lack of substitutes. The Rebels were up 64-63 with a quarter to go before the Birds took wing to outscore them 32-25 to claim the win. Hart hit 15 of his total in the last quarter. Jesse Williams-Hook (16.3ppg) also hit double figures with 15. Everybody on the Rebels side hit double figures with Thomas Uppena (6.6ppg) leading with 23 and Lance Schmidt (20ppg) on 20.

Lightning v Tracy Village Jets

The Tracy Village Jets are making a habit of winning games in the dying seconds of games and this 68-67 win over Lightning was another good example. After beating the Eagles 78-77 two weeks ago in a similar situation court captain Michael MacLean (20ppg) once again produced the goods. Jets were up 67-65 with about 25 seconds remaining when Lightning’s Craig Martin hit a basket to tie it up with 20secs to go. Jets brought ball down court and like two weeks ago MacLean drew a foul and hit one of the free throws to put Bombers up 68-67. Lightning had the ball and enough time to score, but a shot from Chris Charman just clipped the front of the hoop and the Jets secured the rebound and held on until time expired. MacLean finished up with a season high 33 points with Travis Ellis (18.6ppg) collecting 10. Martin (16.7ppg) ended up with 30 points while Shaquille Hohipa-Wilson (19.8ppg) added 15. Next week is crunch time for Jets as they take on competition leaders Rebels on Friday and back it up on Saturday with another date with Lightning.

Razzle v Ansett

Razzle pulled off a minor upset when they knocked off Ansett 79-53 for their first win of the season. The return of coach/player Rob Oliver (12.4ppg) was a major factor in the win. Oliver rallied the troops with 19 points and four others hit double figures as they routed the Blues. Stuart Peace (8.3ppg) had 15, Saxon Radecki 11 and David Carroll (12.5ppg) & William McClay 10 each. The green and gold led 33-27 at half time and pushed that out to 52-38 with a quarter to go. A run of 27-15 finished off the Blues in the last quarter. Matteo Rowse (20ppg) hit 24 for the Blues with Matthew Flanegan on 10.

Ladder:                                                             UniRebels 8-1, Lightning 7-2, Tracy Village Jets 5-4, Eagles 4-5, Ansett 2-7 & Razzle 1-8

Next Week Round 9 April 10:                      Friday: Eagles v Razzle 6:15pm, Uni Rebels v Tracy Village Jets 7:45pm & Lightning v Ansett 9:15pm

Saturday Round 18 April 11:Lightning v Tracy Village Jets 5:00pm, Eagles v Uni Rebels 6:30pm & Razzle v Ansett 8:00pm