Wildcats win 5 in a row
Warwick Wildcats basketball player Mike McDaniel turned back the hands of time last night and lead the Wildcats to their fifth straight win of the season. At 42 years of age, he had decided to hang up the boots last season after playing in the QBL for the Toowoomba Mountaineers, but answered the call from Coach Clark to play on for another season to share his experience with the young Wildcats in their charge at their first season in the QBL Development league.
The Wildcats were able to hold out the fifth placed powerhouse, the Brisbane Capitals, on their home court at Auchenflower, 77-74. McDaniel contributed 25 points in the win, and lead strongly against a very physical Brisbane team. The Wildcats would always struggle against Brisbane with Leon Perdue and DJ Cremasco missing from the team due to work commitments, but also the late withdrawal from exciting young guard Anthony Matthews weakening the team even more. To make matters worse, both Mike Matthews and Snowy Quinn both had four fouls each leading into half time, and had to be used sparingly for the whole second half.
It was left up to the “bigs” of the team to keep Warwick in the game, who played their hearts out. Once again the “Big 3” of Declan Starasts, Cameron Scutts and Mike McDaniel took on most of the workload. The lead was changing hands regularly in the last quarter, with Snowy Quinn fouled out in the third quarter, and Mike McDaniel fouling out with two minutes left in the game. It was Mike Matthews who firstly stood up and hit a couple of crucial baskets in the last two minutes, but Declan Starasts pulled a massive rebound and scored an extremely tough basket with ten seconds to go to give Warwick a three point lead. Brisbane tried to tie the game up with a three point attempt with one second to go, but the shot missed, and Warwick were to come away with their toughest win of the season. The Wildcats now have five wins and three losses for the season.
Top scorers for the Wildcats were: Mike McDaniel 25 points, Declan Starasts 20 points and Mike Matthews 15 points.
This win puts the Wildcats in a great position to make a run at the semi finals now, moving into seventh spot. They play another double header next weekend, with the team expected to be back to nearly full strength again. Two wins next weekend would put Warwick into outright fourth place with four games remaining in the season.
“We just have to keep winning” said Coach Clark “I think everyone now realises that we are good enough to be a real chance in the finals, we just have to put the results on the board. The only thing I believe can stop us now is injuries and work commitments. We really need Warwick to get behind us and to help cheer us on to the finals in our first season of the QBL Development league”
The Wildcats next home game is against the Southern District Spartans at WIRAC on Sunday the 15th of July at 4pm.
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