A double double for Toni Edmondson
The performances of the week amongst our international basketball players overseas belonged to the two Western Australian based Tall Ferns, Toni Edmondson and Lisa Wallbutton.
Playing for Perry Lakes Hawks in the Western Australian State League Edmondson produced 14 points, 12 rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots as the Hawks beat Mandurah Magic 66-56 on Friday.
It was a tight first half but Perry Lakes, now 5-1 for the season, broke the game open in the third quarter with 21 points to 9 to set up the win despite a strong fourth period from Mandurah.
Perth Redbacks had lost two games on the trot but bounced back on ANZAC Day to defeat East Perth Eagles 76-59. Lisa Wallbutton also recorded a double double notching 12 points and 11 rebounds. The Redbacks improve to 4-2 on the season holding fifth spot on the State League ladder a couple of places behind the 5-1 Hawks.
In Melbourne Tall Ferns Head coach Kennedy Kereama’s Sunbury Jets moved to 6-0 for the season in Big V League Division one action.
On Saturday the Jets were far too strong for Hawthorn cruising to a 67-38 one-sided win
Tall Ferns forward Jess Bygate had 11 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist in 16 minutes for the Jets as she eases back towards full fitness.
Europe – Women
After winning the Serie A regular season title a couple of weeks ago Le Murra Lucca opened their play-off campaign with a comfortable 85-62 quarter final victory over Napoli on Wednesday.
Played at the Pala Tagliate Lucca opened an 8-0 lead and were never threatened. Jillian Harmon (15 points) was one of five Lucca players in double figures.
Game two was played in Naples on Sunday. That was a lower scoring affair, although the result was the same, Lucca winning 68-47 with Harmon contributing 8 points as they progress to a semi-final meeting with Venezia next weekend.
Europe –Men
Zaragoza moved to equal 14th on the Liga Endesa table after defeating bottom placed Gipuzkoa in San Sebastian 84-75 on Sunday. Isaac Fotu had a relatively quiet game scoring 8 points (converting four from eight shots) and also securing a couple of rebounds.
Next week Zaragoza will entertain Fotu’s former club Manresa, both sides holding an identical 10-19 record for the season.
Rob Loe only played 18 minutes for Limburg United in the Belgium Scooore League fixture with Proximus Spirou on Sunday but it was long enough for him to grab a game high 7 rebounds. The former Westlake Boys centre also produced 4 points and an assist, steal and block as Limburg lost 90-76.
United are now tied for fourth place with Port of Antwerp Giants in the Scooore League. The two teams meet next week at Limburg with just a couple of rounds remaining before play-off action. With the current standing unlikely to alter in the last two rounds the game is a likely precursor to a quarter-final match up between the two teams.
Tom Abercrombie’s club Pinar Karsiyaka had its scheduled game against Galatasaray deferred for a couple of weeks. Galatasaray are in the midst of a two game Eurocup Final series against Strasbourg trailing 66-62 from the first leg. Game two is in Istanbul on Wednesday.S
LACEY LOWDOWN 