Wolves mauled by the Blazers’ shooting stars
DERBY Trailblazers were rampant as they inflicted a 121-78 NBL Division One defeat on Oaklands Wolves at the Clarence Wiggins Sports Centre.
Jonas Dieterich was sensational, leading all scorers with nine of 16 three-pointers on his way to 34 points. Blake Bowman added 26 and Leighton Elliott-Sewell a further 22.
Raheem May-Thompson added 14 points and Malcolm Smith had a relatively quiet night, finishing with 10.
Overall, the Blazers shot 61.1% from the field and 51.5% from three-point range, produced twice as many steals and blocked six shots as they dominated at both ends of the floor.
“I thought it was an all-round great performance from the whole team,” said head coach Matt Shaw.
“We started really well and continued to play well throughout the first half with some really good team basketball.
“We set a challenge to get a certain number of assists across the team and we smashed the target with ease and I thought we really shared the ball well. Making the extra pass can often create great opportunities and that was really pleasing.
“Defensively, we played with a lot of energy and it was a real up-tempo kind of basketball. There were a lot of positives which we can take into the next game, but there are still other things that we need to work on doing better.”
Derby were once again without Ryan Bruggeman, but Charlie Brown and Kayne King continued to do a great job in his absence. Brown gave 13 assists for the second game in succession, with King providing 10 more in a team tally of 40.
Derby opened the game with seven straight points from Smith, including a three-pointer on the opening possession.
A three-pointer from Dieterich sparked a 22-10 run which left Derby 36-16 ahead at the first break and five straight points from Bowman opened the second quarter.
A dunk from Elliott-Sewell and a triple from Dieterich helped Derby to a 68-34 half-time advantage and there was no way back for the Wolves as the Blazers kept up the tempo to the close.
DERBY: Dieterich 34, Bowman 26, Elliott-Sewell 22, May-Thompson 14, Smith 10, Carter 8, Perry 3, Ugo 3, King 1. OAKLANDS: Zacharias 22, Daley 10, New 10, Pearson 10, Jackson 8, Cani 7, Wright 4, Wylie 3, Caruso 2, Haley 2.
The Trailblazers are back at the Clarence Wiggins Sports Centre on Saturday, taking on Reading Rockets (7pm).