LACEY LOWDOWN

Pride of place this week goes to Tall Ferns Micaela Cocks and Jillian Harmon. The Townsville Fire duo has earned a week off following a comprehensive 82-63 victory against Bendigo Spirit at the weekend. The victory ensuring the Fire advance directly into the WNBL Grand Final

The Ferns have been terrific off the bench all season and Sunday was no different. Cocks scored 7 points and added 4 rebounds and teammate Harmon contributed 8 points/3 rebounds/2 assists and a steal.

The Fire will have home advantage when they take on the winner of this weekend’s Preliminary Final between Sydney and Bendigo.

Fellow Tall Fern Erin Rooney was outstanding for Arras in the French League as she accumulated 12 points/9rebounds/1 steal and a block. Unfortunately her performance wasn’t enough to secure a win.

Arras entered the fixture with the same 13-5 record as opponents Villeneuve but even with home court advantage slumped to a disappointing 78-64 loss. Arras has slipped from 3rd to 4th on the table.

Back in Australia and it was a tale of mixed fortunes for the Townsville Crocodiles in the final week of the NBL regular season. The Crocs had an 82-66 home win against lowly Wollongong on Friday before being defeated 81-71 in Perth 48 hours later.

Leon Henry was held scoreless by Perth but added 6 rebounds, a block and an assist to a couple of points against Wollongong. The Crocs finished in 6th place on the NBL ladder with an 11-17 record.

Henry had a solid season for the Crocodiles. Playing all 28 games the swingman averaged 5.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. He now returns to NZ to join up with the Wellington Saints for the NZ NBL season.

Kirk Penney and Isaac Fotu enjoyed a few days off as the Spanish League had a break last weekend.

Rob Loe was also without a game at the weekend although his Greek team Dramas did play a mid week fixture, going down in a tight one, 78-75 to Aris. The scores were level 52 apiece entering the final quarter but it was the home team that prevailed – just. Loe scored 8 points, snared 3 rebounds and added a couple of blocks.

It was a creditable performance from Dramas on the road against the highflying PAOK who are third on the Greek League table with a 12-3 record. Dramas slipped to 12th with a 5-11 record.

Licher Basket ranked 10th in the German B League South Division suffered an embarrassing 92-69 walloping against bottom placed Saarlouis.  The Bears slipped to their 13th loss of the season and handed Saarlouis just their 5th win of the campaign.

Jarrod Kenny posted 4 points, 3 rebounds and 2 blocks.

The arrival of Kirk Penney at Spanish club Sevilla has had the desired effect. A team high 15 points (3/3 triples) helped Sevilla secure a third consecutive win at the expense of Bilbao, 80-69. Sevilla who were bottom of the table when Penney arrived have climbed to 15th with a 6-15 record. Continue reading →

Rob Loe put together an outstanding performance that included a season high 22 points for KAO Dramas as they visited 6th placed AGO Rethymno Aegen in the Greek League. Continue reading →