Palmerston edges out Eagles in nailbiter ahead of semi-final showdown

PALMERSTON gained a psychological advantage over this week’s semi-final rivals Eagles with a thrilling 95-89 win in Darwin Basketball Men’s Championship action.

The teams will meet again in the three v four elimination semi-final this Thursday night.

The Eagles led 41-27 in the second quarter before the Power mounted a comeback thanks to American import and big man Garrett Hall, who finished with 36 points.

Ben Streeter also nailed six three-pointers to end up with 21 points, while Eagles’ Anthony Golden continued his consistent season with 33 points (six three-pointers).

Scores were locked at 88-all before Palmerston’s Thomas Godwin hit a crucial three with just over a minute remaining.

“You can’t read too much into it. We’ll play them in a semi-final,” Power coach Lance Godwin said.

Eagles guard Joe Johnson, who scored eight points, said his side played well offensively.

“Defensively we had some lapses,” he said.

“It’s been a pretty good season. We’ve had some tough losses but I think we’ve been competitive.”

The Essington juggernaut rolled on, with a thumping 134-80 win over Tracy Village.

The Cannons will go into their blockbuster one v two semi-final against Uni Rebels with 14 wins from their past 15 games.

“We came out slow but we had a good talk between quarters and got it right,” said Essington’s Tobiasz Hose, who scored a game-high 29 points.

“We picked it up on defence and limited our turnovers. All around the hustle was good.”

Jerron Jamerson – smarting to not be playing in the semifinals – led Ansett to a huge 135-85 win over Lightning. The star American swingman scored a mammoth 60 points.

And the minor premiershipwinning Rebels beat Razzle 113-94, Spencer Coleman finishing with 41 points.

Eagles and Palmerston played a nailbiter in Women’s Championship action. Eagles won 87-85, with star youngster Ieasha Friel scoring 38 points to help her team get over the line.

Rebels edged out Razzle 63-61, Shavayah Lee (17 points) leading the way for the victors.

Ansett cruised to a 71-51 win over Lightning, Israeli import Tal Yakov (39 points) once again finishing best on the floor.

Eagles (third) take on Lightning (fourth), and Tracy Village (first) will face Ansett (second) in semi-finals to be played on Thursday night.