Dolphins ’pretty awful’ in victory

A TOUGH fightback by the Darwin Salties had Myra Donkin a tad nervous, but it was 16-year-old Teyahna Bond who shone in the Dolphins’ moment of need in the NBL1 North.

The hometown hero joined teammate Penina Davidson in dispatching the Salties 79-70 at Early Settler Stadium.

Neither side got off to a hot start, with shooting woes crippling Darwin while needless turnovers in transition proved Cairns’ Achilles heel.

Despite the win, Donkin did not dice her words regarding her team’s performance which yielded 20 turnovers.

“We were pretty awful tonight, that’s putting it nicely,” she said.

“We were very all over the place offensively and defensively so we’ll have to review and go back to the tape to see where we will improve for next week.”

But one constant was Bond’s ability to outmanoeuvre her opponents in the paint and generate chances for Cairns; the Far North native finished with 17 points.

Anchoring both the offence and defence for the Dolphins was Davidson, who dominated in the post to finish with 24 points and 15 rebounds.

“Penina and Cayla (George, 18 points), they’re elite so we get a ‘get out of jail free’ a little bit,” Donkin said.

“But we can’t rely on them to just bail us out all the time.

“We’ve gotta get through our steps and know where our shots are coming from.”

It wasn’t the homecoming Cairns hooper Teyla Evans would have wanted – the daughter of Far North basketball stalwart Jenny Evans had 10 points and five rebounds.

Fellow Salties tall Chelsea Brook had a respectable night in the paint with 18 points.

She was joined by Salties star Erin Bollmann, who led Darwin with 23 points and eight rebounds.