08 Jul NWBL Round 2 Wrap
The Red Dust Heelers have celebrated the inaugural Kevin Coombs Indigenous Round with three wins over the Southern Districts Titans.
The Heelers won 59-37 on Friday, 57-39 on Saturday and 69-47 on Sunday to move to 4 wins from 6 for the season.
But the weekend went far beyond the results on court, Red Dust’s messaging around inclusion and culture and their efforts to highlight the stories of Indigenous people since their inception was on full display not only in Melbourne but across the country and integrated throughout both the NWBL and WNWBL.
Mitch Bond averaged 15 points per game for the weekend, while Sabri Bedzeti averaged 11.4 but all three games saw the Heelers share the ball around.
The Titans were led by Murray Kauri with 13 points per game across the three games closely followed by import Peter Berry with 12 a game.
In Darwin, Dr Richie Fejo’s Welcome to Country spoke of the connection the Larrakia people have with Garramilla, the land on which Darwin is built.
But his address to the crowd also foreshadowed what was about to unfold, that the Larrakia’s main totem is the Crocodile, or danggalaba, and “danggalaba’s been hungry, they haven’t been fed for a while.”
The Salties blazed to a 14-2 start on Friday night on the way to a 23-8 opening quarter, leaving the Roller Hawks shell-shocked.
Jaylen Brown was impossible to stop, he scored 14 points in the opening period on a perfect 7 of 7 on his way to 28 points and 15 rebounds for the game and a 80-59 win.
But the Roller Hawks struck back on Saturday with a 77-69 win before the Salties won Game 3, 90-66.
For new coach Tracy York it was a successful return to the wheelchair basketball sidelines.
“It was good to be back on the sidelines with wheelchair basketball and playing an up-tempo style of game. The team plays with passion and intensity and I like that,” said York.
“I thought it was a good and hard first round for us. Wollongong are a very strong team that have also recruited well.”
“After a short preseason it was good to see where we are at early, and what adjustments we may need to make. It was good to get some minutes into the bench players and
look at combinations.”
Jaylen Brown was electric in all three games averaging 28 points, 13 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game including a triple double on Sunday while Luis Edwardo Jasso utilised his height advantage to have 22.3ppg and 10.3rpg.
“Jaylen does look great out there. He’s fit and fast and always a threat. He plays consistently and is a point of difference for our team I think. He had a good season in Europe and with the Australian U23’s.”
“I look forward to working with him during our season.”
In Manly, the Eora Nation, home of the Gannagal people, the Wheel Eagles and Wheelcats pushed each other to overtime in Game 1 with the Wheel Eagles winning 89-87.
In the absence of Bill Latham and Georgia Munro-Cook, more responsibility fell to import Emmanuel Fuentes Cervantes who posted a massive triple double with 40 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists.
Perth responded in Game 2 & 3 with wins in both to move to first on the NWBL ladder. Tom McHugh averaged 21.6ppg game for the weekend but Perth’s offence was well rounded with Ben Moncrieff and Jake Kavanagh both averaging 15.3 points per game for the round.
Photo Credit: @millermbmedia