Wildcats ready to pounce on grand final berth

Corbin Middlemas, Gold Coast

Updated April 04, 2012 17:12:45

The Perth Wildcats will try to ignore the lagging effects of a horror road trip tonight as they attempt to become the first team through to the NBL's grand final series.

Having taken game one from the Blaze on Sunday, victory tonight on the Gold Coast would ensure direct entry to the NBL's showcase series, while the hosts face sudden death elimination.

Flight problems at Perth Airport delayed the Wildcats over three hours, as their scheduled flight to the Gold Coast (via Sydney) was cancelled at short notice.

The team later boarded a connecting flight to Melbourne, before eventually arriving on the glitter strip after midnight on the morning of the game.

But Perth coach Rob Beveridge was not concerned about any potential impact it may have on his chargers.

"When we found out the flight was cancelled, it's just shrug the shoulders, alright boys, we got in late last night but that's the way it is," he said.

Perth trained strongly this morning at the team's shoot around as they ran through final set play scenarios.

"The guys seem very focussed and very switched on," Beveridge said.

"I think tonight we've got to play edgy and I think we're at our best when we're that way because we know the Gold Coast are going to throw everything at us. It's make or break for them tonight."

The Wildcats took a squad of 11 to the Gold Coast, all of whom made it through the session.

Jeremiah Trueman stood out of Perth's five-on-five drills and is expected to be the unlucky 11th man on the roster.

Mark Worthington was fouled out in game one and was held to just eight points.

The Australian representative will be pivotal for the Blaze if they are to keep the series alive, with Beveridge expecting Worthington to bounce back.

"I suspect that he'll get 15-20 shots tonight. I think he's their best player with [Adam] Gibson and [Adris] DeLeon," Beveridge said.

"He didn't get too many open looks the other night and he was a bit shitty about that.

"It's not often Mark Worthington plays two average games in a row. This is do or die for them, so we have to make sure we're switched on with him."

Gibson has been hampered by an ongoing calf injury over the past month which restricted him to just 18 minutes in game one.

The Boomers guard has also been troubled with his long range shooting of late, hitting just 7 of his past 37 three-point attempts.

All indications on the Gold Coast is he will be more prevalent on court in game two.

The Blaze have an impressive 10-2 record this season at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, including two wins against the 'Cats, while Perth boast the best travelling record in the NBL, 9-5.

Listen to tonight's semi-final on Grandstand Digital from 7:30pm EST, or via streaming online.

Tags: nbl, basketball, sport, southport-4215, perth-6000, wa, qld, australia

First posted April 04, 2012 17:05:45

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Flames book WNBL finals berth

Updated February 18, 2012 00:32:26

The Sydney University Flames have booked their place in the WNBL finals with a hard-fought 79 - 67 win over the West Coast Waves in Sydney on Friday night.

Belinda Snell led the way for the Flames with 19 points and eight points, and she was ably assisted by Lauren King, who scored 11 of her 15 points in the final quarter.

Not even a stellar performance from West Coast's Rohanee Cox, who contributed 20 points and seven rebounds on her return to the competition, was enough for the Waves to claim the points.

Meanwhile, Bendigo Spirit saw off Logan Thunder 71-58 at Bendigo Stadium in the night's other match, as Tess Magden top scored with 23 points.

The Thunder never looked troubled in the mid-table showdown, but they need cellar dwellers AIS to upset Townsville Fire tomorrow night if they are to have any chance of making the finals.

Tags: sport, basketball, sydney-2000, nsw, australia

First posted February 18, 2012 00:32:26

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Rangers edge Lightning to book final berth

Updated March 04, 2012 20:14:38

Dandenong's Jenna O'Hea can look forward to playing her former side Bulleen in the first all-Victorian WNBL grand final in 25 years, after starring in a 91-78 preliminary final away win over minor premier Adelaide on Sunday.

The red-hot Rangers posted their eighth straight victory and their third in four matches this season against the Lightning, who went out of the finals in straight sets.

Adelaide looked in control after a 14-2 run either side of half-time gave the hosts a 48-35 lead early in the third quarter.

Dandenong's revival was sparked by former Bulleen junior and Adelaide player Tegan Cunningham, who scored 10 of her 18 points in the third quarter.

Trailing 60-58 at the last change, Dandenong scored the first six points of the final term and outscored Adelaide 33-18 in a one-sided quarter.

O'Hea, who was part of Bulleen's title winning team last year, almost amassed a triple double, tallying 28 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.

Adelaide centre Suzy Batkovic hit a match-high 34, but her only real support came from Amy Lewis who scored 17, eight of them in the final quarter after Dandenong established a double-digit advantage.

Dandenong has not won a WNBL title since 2004-05 and its last grand final appearance was the following season.

The Rangers were languishing in seventh spot before beginning the late season surge that has carried them to next Sunday's grand final in Melbourne.

"Our greatest fans probably wouldn't have thought this was possible, it's very exciting for us," O'Hea told Grandstand.

Dandenong shot at 55 per cent for the game and at better than 60 per cent after quarter time.

O'Hea had plenty of help apart from Cunningham, with Canadian centre Krista Phillips tallying 14 points and 14 rebounds, Kathleen MacLeod scoring 13 points and six assists and Stephanie Cumming netting 12 points.

Cumming appeared to suffer a corked thigh.

Adelaide lost veteran Jo Hill with a calf injury in the the second quarter and finished the season with three straight losses.

"This is a wake-up call, but it's also sad, we're a better team than what we showed the last few weeks," Batkovic told Grandstand.

Bulleen beat Dandenong by margins of five, six and 10 in their three regular season encounters.

"We haven't beaten Bulleen this year, so it's going to be another torrid affair," Dandenong coach Mark Wright said.

"I think they are desperate to hang onto the crown and we are just as desperate to take it off them."

AAP

Tags: wnbl, basketball, sport, vic, dandenong-3175, adelaide-5000

First posted March 04, 2012 17:28:04

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Breakers book first finals berth

Updated April 13, 2011 20:10:00

The New Zealand Breakers won through to the franchise's first NBL finals appearance with a feisty 99-83 series-deciding victory over defending champions Perth in Auckland on Wednesday night.

The Wildcats managed to restrict Breakers danger man Kirk Penney to just 18 points, but Gary Wilkinson lifted to fill the scoring void, the US big man nailing 20 points on 5-of-8 shooting to help New Zealand clinch the series 2-1.

Although Penney could not repeat his 38-point haul from game two, his 5-of-8 shooting from long range was just as critical.

CJ Bruton (17 points) and Thomas Abercrombie (10) also chipped in with handy hauls as the Wildcats struggled from long range, hitting just 4-of-21 shots from beyond the arc.

Matthew Knight (17 points) battled manfully for Perth and Jesse Wagstaff and Stephen Weigh each chipped in with 12 points, but Kevin Lisch was kept to just nine points in what could be his final game for the club.

Tensions threatened to boil over early in the final quarter when Wildcats import Andre Brown lost his cool in a scuffle and struck Breakers big man Mika Vukona in the face with an open hand.

Vukona was only trying to calm down Brown at the time and the referees had no hesitation in ejecting the Wildcats import from the game.

The Breakers led by seven points at the time and never looked troubled from that point onwards, cruising to victory to set up a grand final showdown against the winner of Sunday's clash between Townsville and Cairns.

New Zealand will be hot favourites to take out the title given it has home court advantage for games one and three (if required) after finishing the regular season in top spot with a 22-6 record.

Perth romped to the title last season but its chances of going back-to-back nosedived in January when star forward Shawn Redhage suffered a serious hip injury.

Although the Wildcats battled on to cover the loss, their lack of firepower was clearly evident against the Breakers, who never looked troubled after surging to the lead early in the second quarter.

The Wildcats made a barnstorming start to the match, opening up a 21-13 lead early on before Wilkinson hit his stride.

Penney, under some close attention from Wildcats guard Damian Martin, hit a number of clutch threes and also dished off some handy assists as the Breakers opened up a 52-43 advantage by half-time.

But it was Wilkinson who dealt out the main damage, pumping up the crowd every time he nailed a shot as the Cats' defence struggled to control the big man.

The margin stretched to 11 points at the final change and the Breakers ensured there would be no fightback with a dominant last-term blitz in front of their adoring, sell-out home crowd.

-AAP

First posted April 13, 2011 19:29:00

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