THE ninth round of the 2021/22 National Basketball League (NBL) season continued over the weekend, with Saturday’s action kicking off at Cairns Convention Centre, where the Cairns Taipans hosted the Illawarra Hawks in a late-afternoon start. The Hawks were heading into this clash as the favoured side, given their standing in the top-four, but the Bullets have shown some promising form of late, so it was set up to be a cracking contest. It was a tale of two halves, with the match going back and forth in the first two quarters and neither side was able to get the upper hand in some high-scoring play. However, the visitors came out in the second half and completely justified their spot in the peloton of the ladder with some seriously dominant play. They blew away the opposition with some fast-paced play and their defence was able to hold up well despite some question marks in recent weeks. In the end, they were able to storm home in a second half, claiming a 19-point triumph, their sixth of the season.

FIRST QUARTER

The first term saw some entertaining action, with both sides able to fire on the offensive end of the court. The Hawks jumped out to an early lead in the opening couple of minutes, with things threatening to get ugly for the home side. However, the Taipans were able to get their mojo going shortly after, and brought things back to level pegging shortly thereafter. A dominant end to the quarter for Taipans guard Tahjere McCall, who scored the final six points of the period to se his side trail by just three points at the first break.

SECOND QUARTER

The second term saw more back and forth action, with both teams keeping their first quarter form rolling. The play ended up being extremely even, with the two sides trading baskets for the majority of the term, keeping fans around the country highly entertained. The two teams looked to score most of their baskets from behind the the arc, and this resulted in some high scores for the quarter. By the time the main break rolled around, the margin had not been affected, setting up a massive second half.

THIRD QUARTER

The third term was unlike the two we had seen previously, with one side able to get on top of the opposition throughout this 10-minute period. The Hawks were far and away the better side in this quarter, gaining an early lead on the Taipans and never allowing any sniff of a comeback. The home side simply could not do any damage to the margin, and every time they looked to make a slight run, the Hawks seemingly had an answer down the other end of the court. A Tyler Harvey three-ball gave his side a nine-point advantage heading into the final term, with all of the momentum heading one way.

FOURTH QUARTER

The final period saw more of the same, with the Hawks proving too good for their opponents through the entirety of the quarter. In a common theme for the second half, Illawarra was able to provide an answer to every single push their opponents made. The fourth quarter saw the Hawks really begin to attack the paint, scoring a large majority of their points from in close, with the Taipans defender unable to affect these shots. In the end, the Taipans were unable to score in the final two and half minutes of the quarter, as the Hawks ran away with a big win.

CLOSING THOUGHTS …

For the victors, skipper Harvey led the way with an impressively efficient offensive performance, pouring in 24 points and making eight of his 15 field goal attempts. He was a serious threat from both inside the paint and behind the three-point line as he led his team to a big win. He was well assisted by teammates Justinian Jessup (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Antonius Cleveland (15 points). For the Taipans, McCall fought tooth and nail all night to finish with 19 points, six rebounds and seven assists in a typically eye-catching performance.