Majstrovich takes bite out of Tigers
Southlands Boulevarde Willetton Tigers’ hopes of claiming back-to-back men’s State Basketball League championships took an early hit with a 98-91 home loss to Perth Redbacks on Saturday night.
The under-strength Tigers trailed for the majority of the opening round match and their late comeback wasn’t enough to overturn that, due in large part to Adrian Majstrovich’s dominant Redbacks debut.
The former National Basketball League forward had 29 points at half-time and finished with 42 in his first SBL match since departing Kalamunda at the end of last season.
Willetton were behind by as many as 12 points at one stage before they cut the deficit to one with 60 seconds left. But former Redback Robert Cassir missed a shot to tie the match with 35 seconds left and veteran Perth guard Ryan Neill clinched victory for his side with a clutch three-pointer.
Neill finished with 19 points, while import centre Daniel Maddox had 15 points and 15 rebounds for last season’s semi-finalists, who were without NBL players Jesse Wagstaff and Joel Wagner.
The Tigers lost three of their 2010 starting five in the off-season, while they were also without Cam Tovey and Matthew Knight due to their Wildcats commitments, and those absences proved too much.
Import Robert Kampman impressed in his Willetton debut with 33 points and 16 rebounds, while Troy Thompson added 17 points and Cassir had 12.
Meanwhile, Willetton’s women made the perfect start to their title defence with an 83-58 win over the Redbacks. The Tigers beat Perth in last year’s semi-finals on their way to their second straight championship and again had the edge over the Redbacks with an easy victory.
Willetton led by 14 at half-time and were never challenged from there, with Melissa Marsh (22 points and eight assists) and Jasmine Hooper (18 points) their best performers.
Brooke Hiddlestone and Marita Payne each had 12 points for Perth, who shot just 32 per cent from the field and 54 per cent from the free-throw line.
Perth travel to Perry Lakes on Friday before hosting Lakeside on Saturday, while Willetton are at home against local rivals Cockburn on Saturday.
Article by Jacob Kagi at Willetton Basketball Stadium
Photo by Marg Prior
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