The Ringwood Hawks were expected to win both their games on the weekend, but illness and injury meant the Hawks were forced to dig deep against Corio Bay and Hawthorn.

On Saturday night at Geelong, the Hawks showed no mercy to the Corio Bay Stingrays. Despite really only having 7 fit players, the Hawks went on a scoring rampage. Jacob Gibson (37 points) and Mike McCahey (33 points) enjoyed some great service from Matt Snowball who dished off a season high 15 assists.

Youth League star Kaide Fittolani enjoyed the extra responsibility and court time recording some career high stats. The 190cm shooting guard scored 12 points and dished off an impressive 7 assists. Matt Fennell also dominated with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists, a near triple double.

The Hawks blew the struggling Stingrays off the court by 59 points but unfortunately finished the game with one fit player on court. Trevor Latham left the game early with flu like symptoms while Tim Martin was on the wrong end of a stray elbow and needed 8 stitches in his mouth.

With 4 players now unavailable, the Hawks now had a real danger game against a fired up Hawthorn Magic. The Magic sensed the opportunity and built an early lead against the flat and tired looking Hawks.

Hawks Coach Ken Harrington called on Trevor Latham (18 points and 14 rebounds) off the bench and despite his flu, he managed to drag his team back in to the game. At half time the game was anyone’s with the Magic leading by just 2 points.

Jacob Gibson (32 points) caught fire in the third and managed to edge his team to a small lead. Snowball (11 assists) and Mike McCahey (15 points) eventually found some life and the Hawks grinded to an 11 point win.

“We just battled and battled today.” Jacob Gibson said.

“We were definitely struggling today with energy but we had too much on the line to let this one slip.”

The two wins keep the Hawks in a four way battle for a top two finals spot. All 4 teams have just 4 losses on the season so every game is important with just 3 weeks remaining.

Next week the Hawks travel to Mill Park and face the Whittlesea Pacers. The Pacers have struggled all year and the Hawks will look to have a percentage boosting win.

RINGWOOD HAWKS 123 (Gibson 37, McCahey 33, Fennell 20, Fittolani 12, Clarke 8, Latham 7) defeated Corio Bay Stingrays 64 at Geelong.

RINGWOOD HAWKS 94 (Gibson 32, Latham 18, McCahey 15, Fennell 13, ) defeated Hawthorn Magic 83 at The Rings.

 

Click here to watch a replay of the game livestream , which includes the VYCM's win over the so far undefeated Bulleen Boomers.