Sinners 55 – 32 Saints
The penultimate round of the ladies league got underway tonight, first up a low strength Saints taking on Sinners. Sinners have been inconsistent but despite missing a couple of players were quick off the mark courtesy of Wendy Owen and Leanne Corlett in the first, taking a comfortable 8 point lead. Sally Burman for Saints and team mate Jenny Davies dominated the scoring for Saints. The third quarter is fast becoming the make or break quarter in the majority of ladies games, and this was no exception. A massive defensive effort from Saints, with Leanne Costa and Gemma Kirkham stepping up, but Kirkham and Jenny Davies getting themselves into foul trouble soon had to pull back. Sinners quickly pulled ahead to a 41-18 lead going into the final quarter, but the Saints didn't let their guard down. A far more even fourth quarter saw contributions from Mel Trees for Saints, and Sarah Corkish for Sinners, but by that time Sinners had pulled into an unbeatable lead.
Fellas 51 – 42 Buchanan & Pitts Slammers
The second game of the night was against the league leaders Buchanan and Pitts Slammers and Fellas. A fairly evenly matched first half saw the teams trading baskets, Danielle Murphy for Fellas picking up some great transition points, but answered with some outside shooting from Tracey Dentith for Slammers. An uneasy 1 point lead for Fellas had both teams unsettled going into the third, but Murphy with team mate Amber Carridge were unstoppable on the run. A great game for Anne Clarke and Lesley Patterson of Slammers, but it was Emma Callow with incredible drives and outside shooting for Slammers that kept them going. A somewhat lethargic Slammers allowed Fellas to nose into the lead for the final quarter, and despite a last ditch attempt at stepping up defence the duo to watch this week was Danielle Murphy and Amber Carridge of Fellas helping their team to a 9 point.
LM Construction Phillies 77 – Pokerstars 40
Coming off an important win last week, Phillies looked to cement their title credentials by taking on a Pokerstars line-up missing a couple of key players, but nevertheless a physical test for the smaller Philly team. However, in a blistering first quarter annihilation, Phillies went on an unstoppable run that gave them an incredible 34 – 7 lead and looked on pace to set a season high points total. Leading the charge was the free shooting Revi Del Rosario who just couldn’t miss, and a dominant Manny Dato. Pokerstars found a way to slow them down in the second though and some early scores from Andrew Garvin and Dave Lyons got them back on the scoring trail and in an unlikely turnaround, actually managed to win the second quarter but not by enough to put a dent in the deficit. The third was evenly matched and some strong driving play from Shawn McCurry put him on the free throw line multiple times but he couldn’t find his rhythm and the quarter tipped in Phillies favour. As the fourth petered out, the result settled by the dominant opening salvo, the foul count rose sharply and there seemed to be more free throw attempts than made field goals but the game was played in good spirit and Phillies deserved the win. Pokerstars are probably making a note to make sure they warm up more next time to avoid such a catastrophic start in their next game.
Marvels 83 – 47 Giants
These two stable mates put on a great display of basketball in a contest where the score probably doesn’t reflect just how well these Giants are playing as they gain confidence and experience in the league. With leading scorer James Horton missing for the Marvels, it was up to the other key contributors to step up and make their shots count and Ross Wilson and Kyle Mills were equal to the challenge. Giants couldn’t get out of first gear however and the Marvels limited them to just two field goals in the first quarter but a strong opening second from Haydn McLaren brought them back into it before Mills and Nik Cain went on another push. Spencer Savage fired in two nice scores but the shots were hard to come by and Giants struggled to get looks in numbers. A crushing opening salvo in the third virtually sealed the result but the Giants never give in and fought back with long range threes from Craig Reid and David Beggs. Too late to put a hole in the lead though and Marvels ran out comfortable winners.
