With their recent win against Phillies, Warriors had put themselves in prime position for a final push to get themselves in the reckoning for the title, but they faced an equally motivated Cavs team looking to consolidate their league leading placing and it was the Cavs who opened the strongest, with back to back threes from Paul Kilic and Sean Doyle kicking off a 9-0 run but Chris Wolfendale dired right back with a bomb of his own. The lone range shooting continued apace as veteran forward James Capelen buried one of his own before Doyle made two layups to give Cavs a 16-6 lead after one quarter. The teams were evening matched in the second, Steve Christian proving a handful inside while Wayne Mears found his range from the top of the key but Warriors couldn’t make a dent in the deficit and some steadying scores from Kilic and Doyle again kep the lead at ten points by the half. Employing a zone press, Cavs managed to force some early turnovers in the third but didn’t defend well in the half court, allowing Cameron Boyd to steal some offensive boards and snag some cheap baskets but again, each basket was answered with a Cavs score and the lead stood at 12 going into the fourth. Warriors continued to push, and began to press themselves but huge threes from David Clarke and Kilic put a bit of breathing room between the teams and Cavs managed to smartly run down the clock to take a much needed win and leave Warriors all but out of the running for a shot at the title.
Marvels 63 – 40 Pokerstars
Martin Dunne’s Green Army have one eye on the cup final coming soon, but their other eye is firmly set on a fourth place finish and entry into the top half of the last round of game so it was vital that they secured the win against a Pokerstars team that have struggled of late, but are always dangerous. Marvels started quickly, deploying the wrecking ball of James Horton to relentlessly attack the basket and it paid off with some fast break scores and an early 10-2 lead. Pokerstars woke up midway through the first though and Chris Jonnet again showed why he’s emerging as a real inside force in the league, taking advantage of the absense of Marvels centre Ross Wilson and scoring at will to go on a tear and end the quarter 13-10 up. The second was a much more to and fro affair, teams trading baskets, but the clear difference between the teams was the shooting of Mark Beggs and Marvels ended the half six points up. Marvels threatened to run away with it early in the third, but a superb three from Bob Dix put a plaster on the bleeding but it was only temporary as Horton buried a long range shot of his own and attacked the rim fearlessly. Pokerstars had an ace up their sleeve though in the return from injury of Fred Roman and he was gaining confidence and showing flashes of his talent with some strong drives to the basket. However, some careless turnovers early in the fourth let Marvels take a decisive advantage and they ran out comfortable winners. Pokerstars shouldn’t be too downbeat though, if they can get their core of Jonnet, Roman, Shawn McCurry and Daryl Cody playing together regularly, there’s still a chance to finish the season with some wins.
Ron Smiths Turkeys 63 – 51 Rams
If Coach PJ Mallorca was pleased last week at scaring Warriors for a half, he would be delighted at the perfomance of his team this week in frightening a full Turkeys team for most of the game. It didn’t start well for them, with Allan Walkingshaw powering his was to early baskets and Dominic Gribben again showing the deft shooting touch from outside that leaves league observers scratching their head at why he doesn’t shoot more, but Rams pulled them back with some baskets from Mark Directo and Efren Cagadas and the first quarter finished tied. Turkeys went on a little run in the second on the back of some vintage moves from Simon Cowell either side of a Dave Boyle three but they couldn’t shake off the Rams as they chipped away each time Turkeys moved ahead. Turkeys had heavy legs at the start of the third and looked in real danger of letting Rams stretch out a big lead through Aris Canson but the veteran savvy came back into play and Paul Ellison sank a calming three near the end to give Turkeys a slender three point lead. The fourth was where Turkeys finally managed to edge away for good, putting on a display of hustle, peppered with some desperation, orchestrated by Wig Bregazzi and Walkingshaw and defensively, they managed to hold Rams to just three baskets all quarter, all scored by Directo, while piling on the score at the other end. Turkeys run out the winners of the game, but Rams can once again take pride in enhancing their reputation and the teams left to play them will be looking at the fixiture withsome trepidation.
LM Construction Phillies 85 – 41 Giants
In this match of near top vs near bottom, it would have taken a cataclysmic collapse and a super human effort for Giants to win the game, but they still continue to improve and scoring 41 points against a mean Phillies defence is no small feat. Phillies took care of business their end and maintain their position in the league and would be delighted to see the return of Luke Genenza as they enter into the crunch part of the season and the showdown for the title.
