** HEAT & BLAZE IN GREAT ROAD VICTORIES **
Heat Burn Magic
The Wagga Heat travelled to Moss Vale knowing that they needed a win to keep their season alive and came away with a 15 point win.
Wagga started quickly and were able to jump out to a good lead early on the Magic. At quarter time the Heat were leading by 7 but it could have easily been more had some open shots managed to score for the Heat.
The second quarter was even better for the Heat, this time outscoring the Magic by 14 points to open up a big lead by half time. Game "Coffee Break" MVP Aidan Adams (22 points) and Ken “Busta” Robertson (16 points) led the Heat’s scoring but everyone was contributing which was a good sign.
Moss Vale came out hard in the third quarter but the Heat were determined to not let them back into the match. The scores ebbed and flowed but at the third break the Heat had seemingly held off the challenge and maintained their 21 point lead.
The last quarter was a nervous one for the Heat who struggled to find a way to score whilst the Magic made a late run at them. The first three quarters had set the Heat up well though and the margin was too great for the Magic to make up.
Coach Ballard said after the match “the guys played well for the first three quarters, they played smart, worked hard on defence and executed our offences well. We stopped in the last quarter but had built enough of a lead to stave off the challenge.”
Final Score
Wagga Wagga Heat 68
Moss Vale Magic 53
Top Scorers
Aidan Adams 22
Ken Robertson 16
Quarter by Quarter 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
Wagga Wagga Heat 17 40 58 68
Moss Vale Magic 10 19 37 53
BLAZE JUGGERNAUT HITS TOP GEAR
The Wagga Blaze have cast aside a horror road double header to smash Bathurst and Penrith by 40 and 21 points respectively in State Basketball League action on the weekend. After splitting the previous weekend’s road games against Power and Crusaders on the Central Coast, the Wagga side was determined to come home from this trip with 2 wins.
The Blaze kicked off the weekend with a trouncing of Bathurst on the back of some outstanding outside shooting from Captain Ash Hayllar and a dominant inside display from veteran Caren Hugo. "Coffee Break" MVP Hayllar was unstoppable in the first half landing 6 three pointers for a team high 18 and Hugo added 10 rebounds to her 16 point haul.
New player Jordan Barrett performed well scoring 12 points and grabbing 8 boards in a stellar debut and with 5 players scoring over 10 points the side showed how hard they are to defend against.
The final score of 86 – 46 was a fair indication of the dominance of the Blaze in this game and set them up for a strong showing against Penrith the next day. The rigours of travel and a fourth game in 9 days saw the Blaze struggle to score early against a determined Penrith Panthers side on Sunday morning.
With scores tied at quarter time and the Blaze leading by only 5 at the half, Coach Mullins called on the Blaze girls for a supreme effort in the 3rd quarter and this call was repaid in full when the Blaze blew the Panthers off the court scoring 29 points to take a strong hold on the game going into the last break.
Emily Bell added much needed spark and run to the side and it was Hayllar and Hugo who again stepped up when needed. Hayllar added an astonishing 14 points for the quarter and "Coffee Break" MVP Hugo backed this up with 8 points of her own giving her a second double-double for the weekend.
The final quarter saw the Blaze pick up where they left off in the 3rd and the lead blew out to 32 points when Coach Mullins decided to rest his starters with around 7 minutes left to play.
A final score of 73 – 52 in favour of the Blaze was a just reward for the effort the whole side put in over the weekend. They now get a week off before going on the road again to Newcastle 13 June.
Final Scores
Wagga Wagga Blaze 86
Bathurst Goldminers 46
Top Scorers
Ash Hayllar 18
Caren Hugo 16
Jordan Barrett 12
Quarter by Quarter 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
Wagga Wagga Blaze 24 47 59 86
Bathurst Goldminers 11 26 37 46
Wagga Wagga Blaze 73
Penrith Panthers 52
Top Scorers
Ash Hayllar 23
Caren Hugo 20
Jordan Barrett 8
Quarter by Quarter 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
Wagga Wagga Blaze 8 25 54 73
Penrith Panthers 8 20 36 52
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