By Benito Carbone @_DavidCarbone

West Adelaide Bearcats 90 | Eastern Mavericks 39

A strong, sustained performance throughout the match saw the West Adelaide Bearcats account for the Eastern Mavericks comprehensively, winning the fixture by 51 points on Saturday night.

Trudy Holland had a game-high 10 boards for the Bearcats, while Michaela Lappin top-scored for the hosts with 15 points, with five of her teammates also reaching double figures. The same could not be said for the Mavericks. None of their players made it past 9 points, although Ashlyn Menz and Tracey Carrington reached that figure.

Seemingly buoyed by the impressive pre-match entertainment performed by the Year 12 Henley High School music class, both sides executed their own brands of basketball in a high tempo first quarter. Jasmine Fejo (10 points) threw up an early triple, before a Carrington jump-shot late in the term had the visitors just 5 points behind at quarter time. The Bearcats began to show confidence in their game plan and a Lappin maximum saw the home side jump to a 33 to 16 lead midway through the second. A Jamie Rock swish from outside helped Eastern cut the margin, but West Adelaide were dominant, finding themselves up by 19 at the main break.

Seemingly determined to outscore her sister, Tahlia Fejo came out firing. She dribbled past two before executing a perfect layup soon after the break and continued to control play throughout the quarter. Bethany Heaft (10 points) converted a clean jumpshot and one to sharpen the dagger, as the hosts increased their lead to 33 at the final interval. A huge lay-up to Brooke Basham was a highlight for travelling fans in a final term where the Bearcats tripled their scoring. Kedeisha Kartinyeri and J. Fejo traded triples late, but both also suffered injuries in the final stages, with Kartinyeri later taken to hospital as a precaution.

West Adelaide eventually ran out 90 to 39 point winners. They travel to Starplex next week to take on the winless Lions, hoping results go their way to hand them a top 3 position and importantly, a second chance in finals. Meanwhile, the Mavericks close out a disappointing season against the Woodville Warriors at St Clair.

MATCH HIGHLIGHT: A rapid offensive play from the Bearcats allowed them to go coast-to-coast to score in the 4^th. Tahlia Fejo stole the ball off Menz in the key, before dashing down the court. Dribbling the ball behind her back, she dodged past two Mavericks before dishing the ball to Teonna Campbell, who made no mistake with a regulation lay-up.

Round 20: Saturday, 13 August at 6:30
West Adelaide vs Central Districts @ Starplex
Eastern vs Woodville @ St Clair