New signings lead way as Palmerston starts in style
PALMERSTON Power’s host of new recruits stepped up to help their side to a massive 102-46 victory over Uni Rebels in the opening round of the 2020 Men’s Basketball Championship on Friday night.
Power looked to push the pace with big signings Shaquille Hohipa-Wilson (16 points), Jessie Bell (12 points), Travis Ellis (11 points) and Sing brothers Jordan (13 points) and Steven (12 points) all getting on the scoreboard.
But the points haul didn’t stop at the newcomers, with all 12 players putting points on the board, the side showing its intent for the season ahead.
Jack Harris topscored for Rebels with 14 points.
Power captain Tom Godwin (nine points) was impressed with his squad’s efforts in the season opener.
“It was really good. We’ve been training really hard in the past couple of weeks and we had a lot of numbers with everyone playing well,” Godwin told the Sunday Territorian. “It was quite competitive early on but we just pushed the pace more than them while our larger numbers managed to win the battle of attrition.
“It was great to see the new guys out there. Some of the guys have played with us in the past and it’s great to see that we’re a club that people want to play with.
“The whole side played well.”
Power’s strength in depth will have them as one of the favourites this Championship season, though Godwin believes there are four or five sides to watch out for including Ansett, Eagles and Ellas.
Palmerston next face Tracy Village, who managed an early upset 115-81 win over last season’s table leaders Ellas on Thursday night.
“Jets are a really tough team with an average age of around 21 so they are a young and enthusiastic side,” Godwin said.
“They like to push the ball a lot so we will need to get them to play our kind of basketball.
“We like to play pretty high tempo, which we can maintain with our big bench which has quality right to our last man.”
In the other senior men’s league game, Eagles triumphed 80-57 over Lightning.
Palmerston’s Shaquille Hohipa-Wilson starred with 16 points in his team’s big win over Uni Rebels