16 November 2011

Photo: Tracy Village Jet guard Michael MacLean

Darwin Airport Resort League Results from Tuesday 15 November 2011-Round 19

League Women –Uni Rebels v Tracy Village Jets

The Uni Rebels swept aside the Tracy Village Jets 74-54 to keep their share of first place on the DBA League ladder after 19 Rounds of play in the Championship Season. Jamie Lee-Peris from the Rebels and Georgii Howlett (16.6ppg) from the Jets had a real ding dong battle inside the keyways with Peris taking scoring honour’s 24-23. Peris (15.7ppg) got much more support from the Rebel bench than Howlett got from her Bomber team mates, although Kylie Duggan (10.9ppg) did reach double figures with 12. The Rebels on the other hand had Jaylene Bonson (16.7ppg) with 17 and Francis Clarke with 11. The third quarter was the turning point in the game as the Rebels lifted during a 15-9 run that extended their half time lead of 37-28 out to 52-37 with only one quarter to play. The Jets threw out a challenge but the Rebels through Bonson kept the scoreboard ticking over in the last quarter as she hit 13 of her 17 game points to spark a 22-17 run that sealed the win.

Ansett v Eagles

Ansett held off the fast finishing Eagles for a close 49-42 win that keeps them locked in a tie for first place with the Uni Rebels with only one round to play. The Eagles had taken a first quarter 14-11 lead behind the spirited play of centre Megan Fitzpatrick (12.8ppg) who hit 8 of her team high 16, but the scoring slowed dramatically in the next two quarters as the Blues put their train back on track. The Blues had narrowed the gap to 23-22 at half time and then blew the Eagles off the court in the third quarter with a 19-8 run led by Lauren Flanegan (9.6ppg) and Kia Bond (9 @ 5.1ppg). The pair hit two treys each during the run while the Blues almost shut down the Eagle scorers while taking a handy 41-31 lead into the last quarter. Ansett held fast despite being outscored 11-8. Sam Drescher added 16 points to Ansetts total while Rachel Watchorn (7.5ppg) helped the Eagles cause with 9. Ansett will now hope that the Eagles can upset the Rebels in the last round in order to claim the minor premiership.

Lightning v Warriors

Kelli Sealy from Lightning came ever so close to a piece of history in the Lightning’s 52-34 win against the Warriors. Sealy (27 @ 8.5ppg) had dropped in six three pointers in the first half and needed only four more to tie the Women’s League record of ten, five would have given her the record! But it was not to be although it wasn’t as if she didn’t try. Sealy ended up with nine treys (all her points) as she led the Lightning to only their 4^th win of the season. The Warriors fell behind 18-4 in the first quarter and never recovered. Carolyn Nyhouse led the Warriors with 13.  

Ladder:                               Uni Rebels & Ansett 16-3, Tracy Village Jets 13-6, Eagles 6-13, Lightning 4-15 & Warriors 2-17

Next Week:                        Uni Rebels v Eagles 6:15pm, Tracy Village Jets v Lightning 7:45pm & Ansett v Warriors 9pm                

MEN – Lightning v Ansett

A slow start didn’t hinder Ansett’s eventual romp against Lightning as the Blues almost racked up another ton during their easy 95-50 win. Ansett once again had 5 different players in double figures with guard Matt Hunt (16.8ppg) leading the way with 22. Ansett led by just two after one quarter of play 16-14, but after that it was all systems go as they blasted away in the second quarter 31-12 for a 47-26 half time lead. They did more of the same for the remaining two quarters, wrapping up the game with a 23-13 run in the last quarter. Jesse Bell, who has proved to be a dynamic scorer (15.6ppg) since returning to Lightning’s lineup was top scorer with 13 but no other team mates managed to hit double digits. Ansett now has the minor premiership within their grasp, needing a win next week against the Rebels to claim it.

Uni Rebels v Warriors

The Uni Rebels had to keep their wits about them in their 78-64 win against the bottom dwelling Warriors. Missing from the Rebel lineup was their live wire guard Marcus Ch’ng (10.4ppg) and also absent was new recruit Zane Meelh (17.9ppg) who has proved to be a prolific scorer for the Rebel cause. However, Jarrod Sheppard (12.8ppg) stepped back into his preferred role of point guard to lead the team from the front with his best showing of the season, hitting 26 points, a season high. Apart from a disastrous second quarter when they were outscored 30-13 the Warriors virtually played the Rebels even and in fact led 17-16 after one quarter of play! Phil Collins (27ppg) was inspirational for the Warriors, hitting a team high 18 while player/coach John Culbertson (13.6ppg) added 10 and Rob Oliver 9. Sheppard had plenty of support from Michael Jones (21) and Andre’ Moss (20).

Tracy Village Jets v Eagles

The Eagles squeaked by the Tracy Village Jets 85-81 in another memorable clash between the rivals. Every game between them this season has been decided by 7pts or less with each team winning 2 and losing 2. This all means they will be playing each other again in the minor semi final in two weeks! Larry Williams (28.1ppg) led the Eagles with 20 points followed by Joseph Johnson (12.6ppg) with 18 and Buster Perkins 17 @ 25.1ppg. The Jet score line was similar with Michael MacLean (13ppg) leading all scorers with 22, Ben Appleford 16 @ 4ppg and Dan East with 13. The Eagles managed to keep high flying scorer Travis Ellis very quiet as he only hit 9…he averages 19.8ppg. The Jets led 22-21 after one quarter and trailed 45-43 at half time. The Bombers them pulled away during a 24-16 third quarter run to lead 67-61 heading into the fourth quarter where the Eagles took wing to outscore the Jets 24-14 for the win…nail biting stuff!

Ladder:                   Ansett 17-2, Uni Rebels 16-3, Eagles & Tracy Village Jets 10-9, Lightning 3-16 & Warriors 1-18

Next Week:               Warriors v Tracy Village Jets, 6:15pm, Uni Rebels v Ansett 7:45pm & Lightning v Eagles 9:15pm