A hammering of the Rockets was the deed done by the Bearcats on Saturday night at Hillcrest, with the West Adelaide men defeating North Adelaide by 20 points.

The first quarter began with terrific defence by both sides, but the Bearcats broke away nicely heading into the first break with a 7-point lead.

However it was the second quarter where the Bearcats lit it up. The scoreline was stretched to an unreachable margin as the Bearcats started dominating the Rockets defence, with the score at 40-18 closing in on half time, and the margin at 24 points at the main break.

The Rockets couldn’t buy themselves a bucket until the second half where the third quarter was much more competitive. The Rockets were able to match the Bearcats’ intensity on the court, however it didn’t make a difference on the scoreboard, still trailing by 23 points at three quarter time.

Although the game seemed far closer than it was in the second half, the Bearcats kept their distance from the Rockets, despite a small 7-point burst at the start of the fourth quarter. The Rockets managed to win both the third and fourth quarters, but the Bearcats’ four-quarter performance allowed them to close out the match by 20 points.

A big night from Blake Truslove, including 14 points and 13 rebounds, was one of the keys to West’s dominant routing. Teammates Tristan Braithwaite (17 points), Jason Dawson (13 points) and Daniel Phillips (12 points) all played impressive basketball to help the Bearcats to their second win of the season.

John Wernham was the Rockets only effective performer, scoring a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the night.

by Sam Tugwell