AUS/NZL – Wildcats prowling for repeat title

PERTH (NBL) - The Perth Wildcats have given a timely reminder to the NBL that they intend to defend their 2010 title with vigour, defeating the fourth-placed Cairns Taipans 83-60 in Perth to re-claim second spot on the ladder.

When the Wildcats star power forward, Beijing Olympian Shawn Redhage seriously injured his hip in January and was ruled out for the season, many pundits also ruled out his team’s chances.

However the return from injury of 207cm FIBA U19 gold medallist Matt Knight to team with former NBA power forward Andre Brown has again given the Wildcats the frontcourt firepower needed to challenge the league leaders.

Against Cairns it was Knight who made a statement, scoring 21 points on 7/10 shooting to go with 7 rebounds and 2 blocks to claim the NBL’s player of the week award.

Emerging small forward Stephen Weigh outplayed Cairns import Ron Dorsey, recording 12 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, while import Kevin Lisch (14 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) and FIBA World Championship guard Damian Martin (13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals) easily won the backcourt battle in front of another sell out crowd at Challenge Stadium.

In Adelaide two nights earlier, the Taipans had come from 15 points down at three quarter time to defeat the Adelaide 36ers 75-70 thanks to 17 last quarter points from Boomers squad member Alex Loughton (21 points, 11 rebounds). Cairns outscored the home team 27-17 in the final term, much to the dismay of the 5184 fans in attendance.

Dorsey scored 19 points to go with 6 rebounds while centre Ian Crosswhite contributed 12 points and 5 rebounds. For Adelaide, their frontcourt combination of Adam Ballinger (14 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks) and Daniel Johnson (13 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks) led the way.

In Sydney, young guns Julian Khazzouh and Ben Madgen led the Kings to a resounding 95-86 win over arch rivals the Melbourne Tigers in front of 5210 fans.

Khazzouh was everywhere with 29 points on 10/13 shooting, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks, while Madgen (22 points, 10/14) hit a number of big shots late in the game to secure the victory.

Veteran Ben Knight scored 18 points on 9/11 shooting and has connected on 18 of his last 20 field goal attempts. For Melbourne, Daryl Corletto (24 points) and Corey Williams (22 points, 6 assists) topped the scoresheet.

The New Zealand Breakers locked up top spot by defeating the previously second placed Townsville Crocs 66-65 in a thriller in Auckland. Kirk Penney scored 20 points in the victory, backed by Gary Wilkinson (12 points, 7 rebounds), CJ Bruton (11 points) and the incredible Mika Vukona (10 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals).

Townsville had two shots to win the game at the death but could connect on neither, Luke Schenscher’s (16 points, 6/16fg) hook shot sailing wide as the buzzer sounded. Former Detroit Piston Will Blalock was the Crocs other high scorer with 15 points, 3 assists and 3 steals.

Things got worse for the Crocs in Wollongong two nights later, with Hawks stars Oscar Forman (19 points), Gary Ervin (18 points, 7 assists) and Larry Davidson (17 points, 14 rebounds) combining to lead the home team to a comfortable 87-77 win and move to equal fourth place with four weeks remaining.

FIBA
Paulo Kennedy