LM Construction Phillies 78 – 61 Warriors
Phillies needed to win this game to keep on track for their showdown with the Cavs next week and any slip up could potentially gift the title away. Warriors went on the attack early, driving relentlessly to the basket through David Dallimore and Steven Christian, drawing fouls on the opposing defenders at will. Costly misses from the free throw line mounted up though and Phillies were staying in it from deep with the mercurial Raj Mallorca hitting big shots with effortless ease. Going into the second, Dallimore was still bulldozing his way to the rim but Phillies were leaking out from the top and getting fast break points with little resistance and Chris Smith also started to show off some graceful post moves. Warriors weren’t being shaken off though and continued to plug away and back to back threes either side of half time from Chris Wolfendale gave them some momentum. Luke Genenza stole it back though with some clutch shooting and by the end of the third, Phillies had stretched out to a 17 point lead. Warriors were surely ruing their poor free throw shooting at this stage, going 5 for 18 behind the stripe. The fourth saw Warriors with increased urgency, but Phillies managed to match every score with their own and the lead stayed exactly as it was. The showdown with Cavaliers in a winner takes all match next week is the next step for this team.
Marvels 64 – 40 Pokerstars
With their their final league positions locked in and nothing really at stake, these two teams played an up and down game, good natured game that saw Marvels showcase a rounded offensive display to cover up the absence of key forward James Horton. With Nik Cain returning to the starting lineup, returning early from a gruesome finger injury that looked to have ended his season, the Marvels played a high tempo fast break game but had the smarts to run some good half court sets when it wasn’t there. Pokerstars too had some key players missing, but the poise of Dylan Cody at the point, orchestrated the offence at the other end. Cody has one of the best handles in the league and it’s a joy to watch him control the ball, but his shooting touch hasn’t been there recently but he showed flashes of a scoring talent throughout the game that showed how dangerous a player he could become as he shakes off the ring rust. Marvels never really looked at risk and Pokerstars will probably think they should have pushed them closer, but an entertaining game nonetheless.
Rams 78 – 43 Giants
Rams have had a real upswing to the closing stages of their season, and this was no different as they picked apart a young Giants team that have been improving as well. With veteran forward Francis Go anchoring the defence, Rams held Giants to just two made baskets in the first quarter while Efren Cadenza and Mel Valencia ran rampant on the offensive end. Other than a brief spurt in the middle of the quarter, the second was a similar tale as Rams extended their lead. With their ears stinging from coach burn at half time, Giants opened the third quarter much better and held Rams scoreless for the first five minutes while racking up 10 points of their own and for a brief moment, an unlikely comeback was on the cards but Go subbed himself back in, locked down the defence and Valencia went on a scoring spree to close out the quarter with an unassailable 30 point lead. The final quarter was another wash for the Rams and with the result settled, both teams enjoyed some free flowing basketball in the closing minutes.
Microgaming Cavaliers 78 – 32 Ron Smiths Turkeys
Usually, a game between these two teams would feature much higher in the running order for this report, given the rich and competitive history between them both over the years, but with Turkeys fielding a weakened squad through injury and absence, and Cavaliers at full strength, the final result was a little lop sided. Cavs didn’t have it all their own way in the first half and Turkeys stuck around to keep within ten points, but tired legs and a lack of subs killed the Turkeys in the second half and they were held to a season low 11 points after the break. Clearly preparing for their game next week against Phillies, Cavs ran a variety of different defences and presses and enjoyed a number of fast breaks throughout, with Sean Doyle the main beneficiary. Doyle capped off his team high of 24 points with a nice one handed dunk in the open court.
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