The Block City Brawlers featured three former or current Tall Blacks in their line up against The Birdmen in round six of the Mexicali Fresh Summer Jam at Youthtown on Tuesday night. Former internationals Paul Henare and Darryl Cartwright were joined by Jack Salt, who made his first appearance in the competition.
Alonzo Burton began where he left off last week, knocking down a three to open the Brawlers account althought they trailed 27-23 at the first break, succumbing to a 14 points burst from Super City Rangers back up guard Chris Fahrensohn.
Fellow Rangers guard Carl Buck scored back to back threes and Nash Oh added another as the Birdmen maintained a narrow advantage at the half, 48-46.
Burton opened the second half scoring in the same fashion as he did in the first but Farensohn immediately replied with another long range effort. Late in the third period Henare drew applause from the large, well decent size, ok then small crowd when he came up with a block on the driving Oh. Tipene Friday, fresh from Auckland Aces cricket training joined in the blocking burst – the quarter tied 20 points apiece.
Both teams traded baskets early in the final quarter but after Inga Solofuti put the Brawlers ahead 80-79, with 5:05 remaining it all went downhill for the Birdmen. They failed to score again until the final seconds of the game as Henare and Cartwright controlled the tempo down the stretch, consigning the Birdmen to their sixth straight loss.
Final score; The Block City Brawlers 86 ( Burton 25, Henare 19, Matt Loulanting 12, Cartwright 10) The Birdmen 81 (Fahrensohn 25, Oh 18, Buck 15, Harrison 9)
In the second game of the night it was the Youthtown Clique with a balanced scoring effort that led the The Flava Flyers 48-43 at half time. Lindsay Tait and Shea Ili sparked a 13-3 run midway through the second period to extend the lead to 12 points. A much needed time out from the Flyers stemmed the tide a little, the Waikato Pistons pairing of Nick Barrow and Anamata Haku helping reduce the lead to manageable proportions.
The third quarter was edged by the Clique on the back of penetrative play from Tait (13 points in the period) with good support from forwards Dom Kelman-Poto, Duane Bailey and Patrich Bolstad – they led 72-64 with 10 minutes remaining.
The Clique were still in control in the early stages of the final stanza but when Haku made a off balance fade away basket following a brace of baskets from Mark Kelly momentum suddenly changed. In the final five minutes Jarrod Kenny and the Flyers forwards completely took control. Zack Makavilitogia was outstanding gathering rebounds at both ends of the court and adding ten of the Flyers last 16 points. Barrow and Kelly chimed in with further points as the Flyers outscored the Clique 30-14 in the final period to take the win.
The Clique will miss the services of power forward Dominique Kelman-Poto for the remainder of the competition. The 18 year old who was a standout for Counties at Under 23 Nationals returns to high school in North Carolina later this week.
Final score; The Flava Flyers 94 (Barrow 18, Kenny 17, Makavilitogia 15, Haku 15, Kelly 13) Youthtown Clique 86 (Tait 28, Ili 13, Kelman-Poto 13, Bailey 9)
LACEY LOWDOWN 