Division One Men
Pool A
	Match# 1141
Coffs Harbour Suns	57	[35]	d	Port Macquarie Dolphins	45	[20]
(R Linton 14,J Browning 10,N Hughes 9)				(C Smith 15,B Montgomery 14,D Skinner 5)
Attendance: 50	Venue: PMIS
	Match# 1143
Grafton Vikings	85	[43]	d	Armidale Lions	56	[28]
(M Cole 25,C Fishburn 15,A Kopcikas 13)				(N Taylor 14,G Freer 12,A Taylor 7)
Attendance: 150	Venue: GRSEC
	Match# 1142
Lismore Storm	122	[50]	d	Armidale Lions	53	[30]
(D Strebl 26,J Whitby 21,M Fairweather 17)				(H DenShire 13,C Atkinson 12,M Mariano 9)
Attendance: 40	Venue: LISMORE
	Match# 1137
Lismore Storm	91	[47]	d	Grafton Vikings	86	[51]
(J Whitby 35,D Broslin 18,G Thiong 15)				(M Cole 24,S Murphy 18,N Ainsworth 14)
Attendance: 184	Venue: GRAFT
	Match# 1135
Lismore Storm	98	[50]	d	Coffs Harbour Suns	69	[39]
(J Whitby 27,M Fairweather 15,M Decker 12)				(J Wittleton 17,J Browning 11,J Robinson 10)
Attendance: 50	Venue: QBA
Pool B
	Match# 1334
Wagga Wagga Heat	73	[45]	d	Shoalhaven Tigers	56	[43]
(A Adams 24,K Robertson 13,A Duran 12)				(B Weissel 20,J Lee 9,B Morris 8)
Attendance: 100	Venue: TIGERS DEN

By Shane Atkinson

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 def Shoalhaven Tigers 68

Top Scorers

Aidan Adams 24

Ken Robertson 13

Adrian Duran 12

Quarter by Quarter

Wagga Wagga Heat              23          45          60          73

Shoalhaven Tigers                 24         43          60          68

	Match# 1335
Griffith Demons	77	[36]	d	Moss Vale Magic	75	[36]
(A O'Callaghan 17,A Cullen 15,C Sibraa 13)				(N Taylor 17,J Bentley 15,R Martin 13)
Attendance: 220	Venue: GRIFFITH
Pool C
	Match# 1240
Central Coast Crusaders	91	[54]	d	Dubbo Rams	63	[26]
(E Pepito 25,E Whitmore 16,N Shoaib 16)				(C Brown 14,L Morrow 10,N Peckham 10)
	Venue: DSW
	Match# 1241
Penrith Panthers	99	[43]	d	Bathurst Goldminers	54	[32]
(T Dawson 22,S Albert 21,M Slack 11)				(J Garner 13,M Johns 11,C Ward 7)
	Venue: PSS

Story by Noel Rowsell

The Penrith Panthers State league Men's team has smashed the Bathurst Goldminers 99-54 on Sunday afternoon at the Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre (PVRSC), maintaining the unbeaten status in the 2009 NSW State League Basketball competition.

The Penrith State League women were unlucky to lose a tight contest against the Goldminers by 58-54.

Stand-in head coach Peter Dawson had the State League Men firing from the opening whistle to lead 20-14 at the first break but once it was determined just how weak the Goldminers were on the day, the floodgates opened in the second quarter as the Panthers poured on the points to cruise to an effortless victory.

Rookies Tom Dawson and Sean Albert led the way, whilst eight different players scored during the game.

The two Penrith State League teams have a bye this weekend and resume on April 18

. STATE LEAGUE WOMEN: Bathurst Goldminers 58 (Chiara Porter 17 points, Razz Muir 14, Sarah Murray 10) def Penrith Panthers 54 (Ellie Junod 16 points, Taylah Clark 13) STATE LEAGUE MEN: Penrith Panthers 99 (Tom Dawson 22 points, Sean Albert 21, Matt Slack 11, Josh Morehead 10, Sebastian Zakrzewski 10) def Bathurst Goldminers 54 (Jon Garner 13 points, Michael Johns 11)

Action photos from the NBL, WNBL, WABL, SL, WNWBL and NWBL can be viewed at www.photoexcellence.com.au

Game Report

Pool D
	Match# 1003
Hawkesbury Jets	91	[48]	d	Glebe Magic	78	[31]
(G Godwin 20,R Crane 16,B Hawkesley 10)				(D Estevens 28,L Dok 11,J Wilson 10)
Attendance: 98	Venue: HIS
	Match# 1061
Hornsby Spiders	77	[49]	d	Macarthur Heat	72	[33]
(M Crowe 19,S Das 13,A Strong 13)				(M McCoy 21,B Ryan 16,C Nattrass 11)
Attendance: 20	Venue: BRICKPIT
	Match# 1062
Hawkesbury Jets	98	[51]	d	Norths Bears	68	[25]
(G Godwin 25,B Hawkesley 21,R Crane 15)				(D Fletcher 19,M Copper 14,R Vukovic 11)
Attendance: 157	Venue: HIS

Story by Noel Rowsell

The Hawkesbury Jets State League men's team has once again stamped it's authority in the 2009 NSW State League Basketball competition, thrashing the Northern Suburbs Bears 98-68 on Saturday night at the Hawkesbury Indoor Sports Centre (HISC), South Windsor.

Jets' head coach Barry Sutherland experienced a strange moment at the start of the game, watching helplessly as the Bears powered away to a 10-2 lead in the opening minutes. "I wasn't going to let them (my players) off easy" said Sutherland.

"They got themselves into a hole and even though it was early in the game, I expected them to work their way out of it". To their credit, the Jets soon woke from their lethargy, over-running the Bears in the remainder of the quarter to lead 24-14 at the first break and powered on from that moment to dominate the remainder of the game.

"Our ball pressure forced them (Norths) into a lot of mistakes" said Sutherland. "I'm really happy with how the boys played this week and I'm feeling really good about the season." The Jets host the Maitland Mustangs at the HISC this Saturday night, with tip-off at 6pm.
STATE LEAGUE: Hawkesbury Jets 98 (Graham Godwin 25, Ben Hawkesley 21, Robert Crane 15, Scott Wagener 12) def Northern Suburbs Bears 68 (David Fletcher 19, Mike Copper 14, Rob Jukovic 11) - crowd 157

	Match# 1063
Springwood Scorchers	74	[37]	d	Glebe Magic	69	[29]
(B Austin 13,K Browning 11,R Abboud 11)				(L Dok 26,J Wilson 12,O Heyward 9)
	Venue: GPCYC

Story by Noel Rowsell

The Springwood Scorchers State League Men's team has defeated the Glebe Magic 74-69 on Saturday night at the Glebe Police Citizen's Youth Club (PCYC), in round four of the 2009 NSW State League Basketball competition.

It was predicted to be a tough game for the Scorchers but life, at least in recent times, has continually found additional challenges for the team from the lower Blue Mts. Centres Nick Ferrari and Michael Moors were both 'no-shows' for the game, whilst dynamic guard Josh Stevenson is still on the sidelines through injury - but expected back just after Easter. 

Scorchers head coach Vince Browning has also established a tough stance on choosing his starting line-up in recent weeks and once again, it was the lesser-known players in the squad who were given the task of starting Saturday's game. The home team took full advantage of the inexperienced Scorchers starting line-up, racing to a 17-2 lead in the opening minutes.

The Scorchers dug deep to reduce the margin to just one point (18-19) at the break, then dominated the next two quarters to establish a game-winning lead. As in last week's game against the Jets, the Magic showed they have plenty of tricks up their sleeve for a big finish and stunned the Scorchers with a 30-20 term to put the result into doubt. Coach Browning said "Brett (Austin) was just outstanding for us tonight and I'm blown away by his improvement this year". "The final score was close but we had contributors across the board, while they (Magic) relied heavily on just two players". "Having said that, I think they (Magic) are going to be a very good team in the next two years if the Association can keep the core of the team together".

The Scorchers host the Northern Suburbs Bears this Saturday night at the Blaxland High School Basketball Stadium, with tip-off at 7pm.

Springwood Scorchers 74 (Brett Austin 13 points, Keith Browning 11, Rimond Abboud 11) def Glebe Magic 68

	Match# 1064
Illawarra Hawks	143	[78]	d	Maitland Mustangs	88	[42]
(J Goode 32,B Bonham 31,M Paine 20)				(J Kemp 22,J Kellaher 21,R Compton 18)
Attendance: 20	Venue: BEATON PARK