Hoop Addict
Years ago
Sabres defeat Panthers - Mavs knock off Eagles
The Sabres have pulled off a scrappy 93-79 victory over the Panthers tonight at Pasadena.
Sturt started well, knocking down 37 points in the 1st quarter, on its way to a 16 point lead. Ng hit a couple of nice jumpers to have 10 at 1/4 time, while Gower had already accumulated 4 assists as the Sabres got to the hole with easy against poor South D.
From there on, it was a very scrappy game, with Sturt maintaining their lead between 10 & 20 points at all times. Anytime South hustled back into the game, the class of Maher, Forman or Smylie would string some baskets together & push the lead back out. South had a difficult time adjusting to the refereeing in the 1st half, but smartened up after intermission.
Smylie led a balanced scoring attack for Sturt with 24 points on 67% shooting, while also hauling in 9 boards & having 4 blocks. Ng started well, but cooled off as the game went on to finish on 19. Had a few open looks in the 2nd half that rimmed out. Oscar again only did what he needed to do & generally struggled with his shot apart from a small patch late in the game. Gower had a nice overall game with 16 points, 9 boards, 5 assists, 4 blocks, 5 steals and contributed to hassling South into 25 turnovers. Maher again started slowly, but warmed up in the 3rd. While not scoring much early, he made some crisp passes to set up teammates for easy baskets.
South also had a pretty good spread, with Tom McKenzie & Lucas Smith leading the way with 16, while Scanlon & Fuller chipped in 13 each. They generally struggled to score against Sturts defense, and threw the ball away quite a bit, but they did manage to make it a contest after quarter time.
A shootout between the leagues leading scorers never eventuated, as Ng & Scanlon matched up on each other & allowed few open looks.
South struggled in the girls game without Kelson, only managing 41 points, and getting defeated by 30.
Update : Apparently Eastern has handed Forestville its first loss of the year. Anyone have any details?
