NWBL Round 5 Wrap

NWBL Round 5 Wrap

The Manly Wheel Eagles are within reach of a finals berth in their inaugural season following three quality wins over the Southern Districts Spartans.

“The games felt much closer than what the scoreboard reflected,” said Manly coach Rohan Foy.

Just four points separated the teams going into the final quarter of Game 1 before a 19-12 final stanza by Manly sealed a 74-63 win.

In Game 2, a 23-15 second quarter gave Manly some breathing room, but it wasn’t until the fourth quarter won 22-7 by Manly that they put the home side away 78-49.

It was a similar story on Sunday with Manly leading 48-42 at three quarter time, before the Wheel Eagles delivered a 22-10 final quarter and 3-0 sweep for the weekend.

“All three games were won at the end of the third and fourth quarter, and I think that can be attributed to the experience of our senior players,” said Foy.

“They were able to calm the team during the tense periods and go back to the game plan.”

The Wheel Eagles high pointers Bill Latham and Manny Cervantes continue to look more fluid together with each game. 

In the third game, 10 of Latham’s 12 made baskets came from Cervantes assists. Latham returned the favour with 5 of his 8 assists, passes to Cervantes.

“Emmanuel and Bill have become a great combo and having experienced low pointers getting them free was key.”

Cervantes averaged a triple double for the weekend (29.7ppg, 13.7rpg, 10.7apg) while Latham averaged 30.3 points, 19 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game. 

“Bill and Emmanuel are definitely a tough duo to defend, especially when they are accompanied by high IQ lows,” said Southern Districts’ Hayden Siebuhr.

“Manly’s ability to score in the paint made it extremely difficult to claw back their lead.”

The Spartans were boosted by the return of Jordan Bartley who came back from a shoulder injury two weeks earlier than expected.

“This round we just played has to be some of the best basketball that we’ve played as a team, as we go deeper into the season, our execution has been a lot better. The return of Jordan Bartley was definitely an asset for us this weekend, as he helped out on both ends of the floor.”

“Jordan is able to impact offence and defence with his quick chair skills and agility. Jordan’s intensity in offence helps the team greatly as he’s able to go hard to the rim and involve his teammates when necessary. He has had a lot of experience in the college system as well as international experience with the Rollers as well.”

In Geelong, Perth survived a scare on Saturday night to come away with three wins for the weekend against the Red Dust Heelers. 

While the Wheelcats took game one by 18 points and game three by 27 points, Saturday night’s clash was a much closer affair. 

The Heelers led by a point going into the final quarter, but Perth regained the lead early with a half court pass from Shaun Norris to find Phil Evans underneath the basket. The Perth defence was able to stifle the Heelers’ attack with Red Dust unable to get a basket until halfway through the period through Tomas Klien which was followed up by Lachie Dalton who sank a two-point shot on the next possession.

But that would be the Heelers’ only points of the quarter until Sabri Bedzeti sank a baseline shot in the dying seconds as Perth put on 14 of their own to take the win 53-45. 

“Was a decent weekend for us,” said Wheelcats captain Shaun Norris at the conclusion of the weekend. 

“A few moments where we lose focus, and Bedzeti gave us some headaches throughout the weekend. But when we were able to lock in and focus, we could get ourselves some separation on the scoreboard. But hats off to Red Dust for a great weekend and giving us some troubles.”

Perth play their final regular season round next week at home against Adelaide while Red Dust travel to Wollongong to take on the Roller Hawks.

In Adelaide things had the potential to get ugly early as the winless Thunder hosted the red-hot Darwin Salties. 

The home-grown crew of the Thunder stood little chance against the Salties’ all Australian line up as the visitors took no prisoners, clamping down on the home side on every possession.

The Thunder were kept to single digits in all but two of the twelve quarters including a 0-36 first quarter in Game 3.

“We approached the round trying to work on some defensive structures and setting goals we wanted to achieve,” said Salties coach Jason Ivinson.

The emphasis on defence resulted in a Jaylen Brown triple double in Game 1, with 31 points, 13 assists and 13 steals. Brown also had 10 steals to go with 35 points in Game 3.

Ivinson shared the minutes among his squad with everyone who hit the court in games two and three getting on the scoreboard.

“Getting minutes into the squad so every player is ready to play when called up.”

The Salties are next on the road at Manly, but Ivinson remained tight-lipped on the key to victory.

“Score more than them.”

“But seriously, really looking forward to the challenge, they are a good team getting better every week under coach Rohan.”