CAIRNS MARLINS gun Kody Stattmann has delivered a career-best outing in the NBL1 North Men’s competition over the weekend, leading his side to a massive 38-point win over the Townsville Heat with some seriously damaging play.

It has not been a strong season for the Marlins, who currently sit at the bottom of the ladder, and came into this clash with just three wins to their name. Although the Heat were not much better having won five games themselves, they would enter the match as favourites despite being in enemy territory in Townsville.

The Fire were simply superb over the first three quarters, building an unassailable 44-point lead in the first 30 minutes of play and held on in the final frame to claim a huge win in a high-scoring outing for both sides. With a combined 244 points across the two teams, it was a tremendous display of offence, with Townsville proving far too good.

Stattmann was the man of the moment for the Marlins, with the Cairns Taipans guard showcasing his ceiling with an undeniable showing against the Heat, giving Taipans fans plenty to look forward to for the upcoming NBL season.

Cairns Marlins (138) def. Townsville Fire (108)

Kody Stattmann – 48 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, one steal

A 48-point double-double from Stattmann was the difference between the two sides at Trinity Ford Stadium on Saturday, with the 25-year-old absolutely dominating in an immense scoring showing at home.

He started the game with a successful trip to the free throw line to get the Marlins off to a 5-0 start, before backing it up a minute later with a nice driving layup. The guard then stretched the floor with his first triple of the match and the home side were suddenly out to a five-point lead on the back of his offensive efforts.

The Marlins star helped push the lead out to double-digits with a driving layup through contact for an and-one opportunity. Although he was unable to convert, he remarkably chased down a rebound on the following possession and laid the ball in once again in a red hot start to the match. He rounded out the first quarter with another successful trip to the charity stripe to post 13 points in the opening frame.

He got on the end of a nice pass from Kian Dennis on an alley-oop play, grabbing the ball mid-air and laying it in despite contact from the opposition, which allowed Stattmann to make up for his miss earlier in the game and convert the and-one. His second triple came in the minutes that followed, and although he just had one more make for the term with another driving layup, he was still the prominent figure within the match.

He started the second half as he did the first by converting a pair of free throws to open the third quarter in style and keep extending Cairns’ lead. Stattmann then threw down a nice cutting dunk to put his team up by 24 points, before heading to the bench for a well-earned rest. He returned to the fold with a couple of minutes to play in the third, and had enough time to get free on the drive to the basket and finish at the cup once again.

His start to the fourth was his most damaging of the match, nailing a nice turnaround jumper to show that he truly had his eye in, before reinforcing that with a pair of triples in the next couple of minutes. He went back to his turnaround jumpshot again with the same result, before finishing the match with some nice drives into the paint to cap off a dominant night.

He finished the contest with a whopping 48 points, doing this in less than 35 minutes of court time all while shooting 17/24 from the field, an impressive 12/13 from inside the arc and 5/11 from long range in a dominant offensive showing. If the Taipans can get this level of confidence and aggression from Stattmann, he may be one of the breakout players of the NBL.