The Wagga Wagga Heat have put their bad start to the State League season behind them and defeated the Shoalhaven Tigers in a match that went down to the wire.

The first quarter was close with only a point between the sides at the first break.  Heat coach Chris Ballard still wasn’t happy with Wagga’s defence, giving up 24 first quarter points, however, they had kept in touch and were in a better position than previous weeks.

Wagga came out determined to go into halftime in front of the Tigers and thanks to some good team basketball were in front at the half by 2 points.

Aidan Adams led the scoring for the Heat with 24 points for the game but it was the Heat’s even spread of scorers that was most encouraging.  Ken “Busta” Robertson was again Wagga’s most effective tall with 13 points closely followed by Adrian Duran with 12.

Wagga stumbled slightly in the third quarter and Shoalhaven took advantage of this, the Heat being somewhat lucky to go into the last quarter on even terms thanks to some good late term defence leading to some easy scores.

At the final break Coach Ballard asked his team to fight hard and not let this opportunity slip and the Heat players responded with a lift in defensive intensity keeping the Tigers to 8 last quarter points.  Wagga finished over the top of the Tigers to win by a final margin of 5 points.

The excitement at getting their first win for the season was obvious in the body language of the Heat players after the game.  “Hopefully this is the catalyst we needed to bring the team together as a unit and play some good basketball in the future” said Coach Ballard after the game.

Final Score

Wagga Wagga Heat           73

Shoalhaven Tigers                        68