It took Jerrah Young just one defensive possession to work his way into the hearts of Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneer fans on Saturday night against Lakeside Lightning.

Young started his SBL career with one of three huge rejections, one of which cannoned off the backboard in the second half and got the 1105 fans at Activewest Stadium out of their seats.

“I love blocking shot, especially if I can throw them out of bounds or off the backboard,” he said.

“This is one of the few organisations that have great crowds and the team loves the game and you can really tell.

“I had been hearing about it, but it is different hearing it and experiencing it.

“Usually I am a laid back player, but the energy from the crowd and the team got me fired up, I could not help myself.”

The first placed Buccs defeated third-placed Lakeside 90-83 despite allowing the Lightning to have 113 shots, 36 more than the Buccs, and being out rebounded by 26.

Lakeside was not afraid to shoot from three-point land, launching 52 for the game, but shot a dismal 26 per cent from the field.

Geraldton led by as much as 20 points during the third quarter before Lakeside reduced the margin to four points at one stage in the final term.

The Buccaneers got off to an emotionally charged start to the game after a tribute to the late Ruth Rogers, who the score bench at Activewest Stadium is now named after.

The players warmed up in white shirts with ‘Ruthy’ across the back of it, Ian Heberle read a tribute to Ruth and everyone participated in a minutes silence before tipoff.

Bennie Lewis hit the first shot of the night and pointed to the heavens.

He topped scored with 28 points while Carter Cook added 20 and Aaron Ralph grabbed 11 rebounds to go with his 20 points.

Young, who trained once on Thursday before his debut, said there is a lot of improvement to come.

“We will improve while I am here and get incorporated into the offence a bit more, but in the meantime defensive rebounding is all about effort and that is what I bring tonight,” he said.

“The guys surprised me a little bit with their ability, it is one thing in training, but to do it on the court.

“Some of the moves and the shots they were making, it did surprise me a little bit.”

Odartey Blankson flies back to America today to start his rehab which is expected to to be four to six weeks.

Article by Taylor Courtland: Geraldton Newspapers

Photo by Mick Cronin