It took a special shooting night, a terrific performance by a player in only his second game and five extra minutes but the Hawks extended their winning streak to 5 after a one point win over the Casey Cavaliers on Sunday.

These two teams have plenty of shooting power and it was on full display right from tip off. Hawks Jacob Gibson (42 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists) was allowed too much space from the Cavaliers defense and made them pay. Unfortunately though, the Hawks were not switched on defensively and the Cavaliers stayed close.

For three quarters to game sig sawed back and forth but neither team was able to find a match winning lead. Slowly during the last quarter, the Hawks edged themselves in front with Mike McCahey (29 points and 8 rebounds) keeping the scoreboard ticking over. Just went it looked like the Hawks had the game, an untimely technical foul on the Hawks changed the momentum and both teams finished the forty minutes of battle locked at 113 each.

Guard Stefan Osborne (17 points) joined the Hawks for the first time on Thursday night, had one training session and now found himself right in the fire during overtime. Despite having a very basic understanding of the Hawks offensive schemes, Osborne remained calm and kept the Hawks offense flowing. McCahey and Gibson were able to get to the foul line and Nathan Truman nailed an important lay-up. It was Gibson again who tipped in an Osborne miss and then the Hawks watched with their heart in the mouth as a desperate shot by the Cavaliers fell short.

The high scoring game was the most entertaining game this season but from the Coaches perspective there is plenty on things to work on.

“I reckon we could probably do a better job defensively. What do you think? ” Hawks Coach Ken Harrington said with a rye smile.

“But Jacob was special and my hat goes off to Stefan who showed plenty of courage today.”

Next Saturday night the Hawks 5 game winning streak will be firmly tested with the star studded Waverley Falcons visiting the Rings stadium. It promised to be a great game on a big occasion as the Club will be celebrating its annual Clubfoot game. The Hawks will be raising money for a Charity called Miraclefeet who organize surgery for kids all over the globe with Clubfeet. Game time is 8pm.

RINGWOOD HAWKS 121 ( Gibson 42, McCahey 29, Osborne 17, Clarke 9 ) defeated CASEY CAVALIERS 120 at the Rings. Crowd 280.

Relive the excitment of the game by clicking here to watch a replay of the game. You can also watch the Lady Hawks game against Warrandyte here.