Pool A
	Match# 1131
Tamworth Thunderbolts	102	[55]	d	Armidale Lions	62	[27]
(C Skilton 44,J Deland 10,B Muir 8)				(T Balderston 14,N Taylor 11,L Malcolm 8)
Attendance: 250	Venue: TT
	Match# 1132
Port Macquarie Dolphins	83	[43]	d	Lismore Storm	60	[22]
(B Montgomery 18,C Smith 18,L Guild 11)				(D Strebl 20,M Fairweather 12,M Willey 10)
Attendance: 200	Venue: PMIS
	Match# 1133
Grafton Vikings	78	[47]	d	Coffs Harbour Suns	48	[18]
(M Cole 20,M Moran 13,S Murphy 12)				(R Linton 11,J Wittleton 8,J Robinson 7)
Attendance: 350	Venue: SZC
	Match# 1142
Grafton Vikings	66	[32]	d	Port Macquarie Dolphins	52	[21]
(C Fishburn 18,A Kopcikas 13,S Murphy 12)				(C Smith 12,D Skinner 10,W Lee 10)
Attendance: 120	Venue: PMIS
Pool B
	Match# 1335
Wagga Wagga Heat	59	[22]	d	Queanbeyan Roadrunners	57	[31]
(A Adams 17,K Robertson 14,D Tye 14)				(J McGann 15,M Ball 12,A Jackson 12)
Attendance: 80	Venue: BOLT
	Match# 1337
Shoalhaven Tigers	72	[31]	d	Moss Vale Magic	69	[37]
(N Eastgate 21,B Nemeth 21,B Mulvihill 17)				(N Taylor 24,L King 11,J Bentley 9)
Attendance: 200	Venue: MVBS
Pool C
	Match# 1243
Penrith Panthers	105	[51]	d	Power	57	[25]
(S Albert 20,T Dawson 20,K Sicard 14)				(D Morris 18,J Henry 9,D Rogers 7)
	Venue: CCYC

Panthers Shut Down the Power - by Noel Rowsell

The Penrith Panthers have bounced back to winning form against the Central Coast Power on Saturday night in Gosford, recording a runaway 105-57 win in round seven of the 2009 NSW State League Basketball competition.

The Penrith State League women had a controversial three-point loss in Newcastle, with plenty of ill-feeling among the visitors at the result.

The Penrith men travelled to the Central Coast with just nine players on the weekend and were soon down to eight, after an early injury to starting centre Matt Slack.

The opposition however were not talented enough to worry the Panthers on the night, with a 34-8 first quarter score virtually ensuring the visitors would record a comfortable win. "Everyone played and everyone contributed on the scoresheet" said Panthers head coach Jeff Cooper. "We controlled the game all night and had effectively wrapped it up with our dominance in the first quarter".

The Panthers head west to Dubbo this Saturday night and coach Cooper is anticipating a far tougher reception from the Rams, who fought hard in their 15-point loss to the Panthers in their first encounter this season.

The Penrith women have a bye this weekend and play the Wagga Wagga Blaze on May 9.

Penrith Panthers 105 (Tom Dawson 20 points, Sean Albert 20, Kurt Sicard 14, Craig Blatch 13, Paul Tengdahl 11 and Josh Morehead 10) def Central Coast Power 57

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

	Match# 1245
Central Coast Crusaders	104	[50]	d	Power	48	[22]
(T Johnson 20,T Anderson 19,N Shoaib 17)				(D Morris 11,S Goodier 8,L Starr 7)
Attendance: 260	Venue: BCS
Pool D
	Match# 1041
Illawarra Hawks	66	[57]	d	Macarthur Heat	52	[15]
(B Bonham 17,C Hodgson 12,R Epe 12)				(M McCoy 16,C Nattrass 14,B Ryan 6)
Attendance: 40	Venue: BERK
	Match# 1042
Springwood Scorchers	92	[42]	d	Maitland Mustangs	68	[33]
(K Browning 22,T Allawaliah 18)				(L Woodman 17,J Thomas 12,W Brown 11)
	Venue: MFC

Understrength Scorchers too strong for Mustangs - By Noel Rowsell

The Springwood Scorchers continue to create their own challenges in the 2009 NSW State League Basketball competition, this weekend travelling north to Maitland to play the Maitland Mustangs, in Round Six, without regular starters Rimond Abboud and point-scoring machine Adrian Qumivutia.

Rookie Dan Purdy and benchie Evan Hine rose to the occasion, with the former winning the coach's award as the Scorchers grabbed a 92-68 win.

Injured point guard Keith Browning was not scheduled to return from the injured list as yet but also chose to support the team in Maitland, suiting up at least one week early following his facial injury from last weekends game against the Hawkesbury Jets.

Scorchers head coach Vince Browning said "I was nervous about the Mustangs, even though they are at the bottom of the ladder". "However, we started well and jumped away to an early lead". "The referees changed their style in the second half (of the game) and where that probably would have thrown us off our game in past years, the boys quickly settled down and adjusted really well" said Browning.

The Scorchers led 24-15, 42-33 and 68-57 at the first three breaks in play and maintained that advantage to record a 24-point win.

Next weekend's game will be another tough encounter, with the Scorchers heading to Wollongong to play the highly-ranked Illawarra Hawks.

There is however some welcome news for Scorchers fans, with power forward Nick Ferrari making contact with coach Browning last week and apparently agreeing to return to action next week, in time for the Hawks game.

The Scorchers have been very competitive this season when close to full strength and the return of Ferrari may well push the team back into contention, not only for the playoffs but for the state title.

Springwood Scorchers 92 (Keith Browning 22 points, Trent Awadallah 18, Evan Hine 11, Lee Van Hoogenvest 11, Jason McBride 10) def Maitland Mustangs 68

	Match# 1043
Glebe Magic	73	[36]	d	Norths Bears	62	[33]
(S Clarke 24,T Cranfield 14,T Tuino 11)				(D Fletcher 20,M Copper 14,H Papuke 9)
	Venue: GPCYC
	Match# 1044
Hawkesbury Jets	81	[37]	d	Hornsby Spiders	72	[30]
(G Godwin 17,C Elias 16,S Wagener 12)				(R Alcock 22,J Price 15,K Bhinder 11)
Attendance: 20	Venue: B'PIT

Jets Stomp (lightly) on Spiders

The Hawkesbury Jets senior men's team has recorded a modest 81-72 win over the lower-ranked Hornsby Spiders, on Saturday night at the Dartford Road Indoor Sports Centre (DRISC) Thornleigh, in round seven of the 2009 NSW State League Basketball competition.

The close result was both a surprise and a disappointment to Jets head coach Barry Sutherland, who would have expected a more dynamic performance from this year's competition leaders - the Jets.

Sutherland said "We led 26-6 at the end of the first quarter and the guys thought 'here we go - another easy game' and just switched off". The Spiders subsequently showed great character to win the second quarter 24-11 and the game was definitely on, with the Jets leading narrowly (37-30) at half time but surging again to lead 61-48 at the end of the third quarter.

Whilst the game appeared to have been won at that stage, the Spiders again showed their true grit, winning the final term 25-19 to bring the final margin back to a very respectable (for the Spiders) nine points.

The Jets cannot afford any complacency this Sunday afternoon when they host the Macarthur Heat at 1pm at the Hawkesbury Indoor Sports Centre (HISC) South Windsor, in one of the most-anticipated games of the year.

The Heat have been one of the benchmark teams in the NSW State League for the past three years and despite not winning a title in that time, have always proved to be one of the toughest teams to beat in any regular season game.

Hawkesbury Jets 81 (Graham Godwin 17 points, Chris Elias 16, Scott Wagener 12, Robbie Crane 11) def Hornsby Spiders 72