Gutsy effort from Giants
Hough, standing in for head coach Wayne Creek who couldn’t make the trip due to commitments in Kalgoorlie, praised his players’ determination against a Magic side he believes are far better than their current 11th position indicates.
“Mandurah are the kind of team that are never really out of it, they just keep coming and kept clawing their way back – they’re a very hard team to put away,” Hough said.
“It was a tough game, but a good all-round team effort I think. “The win last (Saturday) night just emphasises the fact you’ve got to perform week in and week out because if you don’t, teams can come up and bite you on the backside. Ultimately our aim is a top-four finish, but we’ve just got to keep focused and not drop our guard.”
The Giants led at every change to eventually win 102-96, stretching their win-loss record to 9-4 at the halfway point of the season. Hough was also full of praise for swingman Matt Leske, who curtailed the influence of Magic’s American import Casey Crevelone.
Crevelone scored 32 points when the sides met in Kalgoorlie-Boulder last month, almost single-handedly taking Mandurah into double overtime.
Hough said Leske’s efforts in restricting Crevelone to just 11 points and top-scoring with 24 himself, was crucial to the outcome of the match. “Matt’s job on their import was probably the key for us,” he said “He (Crevelone) was very dangerous when Mandurah came to Kalgoorlie – he really was the architect of taking that game into overtime and Matt was determined not to let it happen again.
“We’d planned for Matt to guard him and we think he’s pretty close to our best defender so he was always going to get the job. “To his credit he did it to a tee – Crevelone had limited impact on the game and that was a big factor to us winning.”
Giants imports Michael Haney and John Vaudreuil continued their stellar season with 24 and 18 points respectively, while captain Ryan Hulme, playing his first road game in over six weeks, was also important with 14. The win was the Giants’ third in a row away from home, stretching their impressive travelling win-loss record to 5-2.
“Our away form is sensational in the sense it’s exactly what we need to be doing,” Hough said. “You want to win every home game and be at least 50 per cent on the road. “So to be in the situation we’re in at the moment is good, but we can’t rest on that because it’s a matter of stepping up to the plate when the next challenge is thrown at us.” The Giants were due to play ninth-placed Perry Lakes Hawks in the second leg of their double-header road trip yesterday.
Article by Dean Stacey (Kalgoorlie Miner)
Photo by Travis Anderson(Andmedia/Sportvision)
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