SPORT Cannons keep on firing
EARLIER in this Darwin Basketball Men’s League Championship season, you could have been forgiven for thinking Essington was the easybeat team of the competition.
The Cannons were thumped 121-57 by Challenge winners Uni Rebels in Round 6, leaving them with a 2-4 record. But with an influx of star imports since then, the Top End’s newest team has been almost unbeatable, winning 13 of its past 14 games.
Its latest victory was a 112-109 thriller over the Rebels on Thursday night.
Former Cairns Taipans star Deba George (40 points), Tobiasz Hose (27), Travis Ellis (20) and Deola D’Brown (17) — all classy imports — starred.
“Now we feel we’re a good chance at beating anyone,” said Essington guard Fisto Bizima, who scored eight points against the Rebels.
The Cannons held a 17point lead in the second quarter, before the Rebels bounced back to trail by one point with 20 seconds remaining. But Essington hung on for its seventh-straight win thanks to four George free throws.
“If we’re down on the score- board, we’ve got a lot of guys who have experience and know what to do in those situations,” Bizima said.
“We’ve shown a lot of improvement — we didn’t have our full squad earlier in the season.”
In other Men’s League Championship games, Ansett beat Razzle 106-80, Palmerston easily accounted for Tracy Village 119-59 and the Eagles also coasted to a 113-64 win over Lightning.
Despite their loss, the Rebels have wrapped up first place with one round remaining. They are on 54 points, with Essington (50), the Eagles (48) and Palmerston (46) making up the top four.
In Women’s League Championship action, Ansett beat Razzle 84-54, Lightning triumphed by 78-58 over the Eagles and Tracy Village continued its dominance with a 78-34 win over Palmerston.
Tikesa Docherty-Cole (22 points for the Jets), Tal Yakov (34 for Ansett) and Peta Bailey (19 for Lightning) were the Round 20 stars.
The Jets (50 points), Ansett (43), the Eagles (37) and the Power (31) are the top four teams going into this week’s final round.