Flames burn Buccs (Geraldton Guardian)
SUN City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers coach Ray Evans believes his side will still be a force in the State Basketball League competition this year, despite remaining winless after three games.
The Buccs were bullied by the Rockingham Flames, who held off a late fightback from Evans’ men to secure a 99-91 victory at Tip Top Stadium on Saturday night.
“We were pushed out of our offence,” Evans said.
“They came out with the game plan to run us off our legs and our transition defence got caught out a little bit.”
A spirited third-quarter resurgence from the home side saw them outscore the Flames 23-16, after trailing by six points at the main change.
The Buccs ran out of gas in the final quarter however, as Rockingham’s import Kent Tribbet strangled the Buccs into submission, finishing with a game high tally of 36 points.
Everard Bartlett top scored for the Buccs with 26 points while Aaron Ralph chimed in with 20 and the returning Ben Pepper netted 18.
Buccs’ captain Matt Wundenberg lead by example and amassed 25 rebounds and 11 points for the game.
A lack of ball handlers at the point guard position took its toll on the Buccs as they committed 26 turnovers throughout the game.
“There is no way you can win a game turning the ball over more than twenty times a game,”Evans said.
“We had to throw Everard into the point guard position, he is naturally a scoring guard not a point guard but he did a great job.”
“The guys did not use their smarts and we just could not run anything against their defence.”
Evans said the team is lacking confidence after losing five consecutive games dating back to the end of last year.
“It is a long season and when we get back a bit of confidence we will definitely be around the mark,” he said.
Article by Taylor Courtland (Geraldton Buccaneers)
Photo by Geraldton Guardian
Comments
Comment Guidelines: The SportsTG Network is made up of players, families and passionate sports followers like you who have a strong opinion about sport. That's great - we want you to have your say and share your thoughts with the world. However, we have a few rules that you must follow to keep it fun for all. Please don't be rude, abusive, swear or vilify others. Apart from some pretty serious sport sanctions, we also can ban you and report you if things get out of hand. So play fair and have fun, and thanks for your contribution.