THE National Basketball League (NBL) concluded its 11th round of action for the 2021/22 season over the weekend, with some entertaining clashes taking place across the courts. The schedule wrapped up with a clash between the Cairns Taipans and the New Zealand Breakers at the Cairns Convention Centre on Monday night. In a clash between the competition’s two bottom sides, fans were treated to a cracking contest, with both teams eager to give their season a much-needed boost with a win here. Despite trailing at the main break by a considerable margin, the Taipans produced some serious fight in the second half to look likely to steal a victory in front of their home crowd. However, the Breakers were able to hold on to claim their fourth win of the season, this time to the tune of just one point in a thriller.

One of the big reasons for this triumph was the performance of star big man Yannick Wetzell, who did it all to lead his side to this result. He was a force to be reckoned with, simply outplaying the Taipans’ bigs, and giving his side a match-winning performance with 23 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and six steals.

FIRST QUARTER

Wetzell started the game in ideal fashion, stripping Tahjere McCall of possession in the opening seconds of the match, before working hard in his transition offence to sink the first shot of the game on the same play. The Breakers were looking to get him involved on every play possible, demonstrated by the big man picking up an assist the following possession. His second dime of the game when he used excellent court vision to find a wide-open Chasson Randle behind the arc, with the shot making its way to the bottom of the net. Wetzell added his first few rebounds of the match in the minutes that follwed, before adding another six points by the time quarter time rolled around, in what was an excellent start.

SECOND QUARTER

The big man started the second period on the bench, which was a well-deserved rest given his tremendous output in the first quarter. He came back into the game with just over seven minutes remaining for the term, impacting the game immediately with a put-back lay-up. He backed this up with another lay-up on the next possession, before going to work on the Taipans’ big men and sinking a hook shot less than a minute later. It was in this period that Wetzell began to truly take over the match, doing it all from and-one lay-ups to stealing the ball from the opposition. He was far and away the best player on the court in this time, and was a significant factor in his side taking a 20-point lead into the main break.

THIRD QUARTER

The second half saw the Cairns defence put most of their attention into nullifying the impact of Wetzell, given the damage he caused in the first half. His scoring was forced to slow down in this time, but he was still able to affect the contest in other ways. Whether it was drawing the defence into a double-team and dishing to a wide-open teammate, or pulling down an offensive board to give his side another possession, Wetzell was still impactful. However, this period ultimately belonged to the Taipans, as they staged a big comeback heading into the final term.

FOURTH QUARTER

Wetzell opened a tense final period demonstrating how active his hands have been all night, recording yet another steal in the opening minutes of the term. Once again, he showed the damage he can cause with the hook shot, draining one over the Taipans defence. The next few minutes saw the towering Breakers figure hit the boards to try and claim some crucial touches in the midst of a serious charge from their opponents. Following this, Wetzell was able to sink some vital free throws and lead his side to one of their most impressive wins of the season.