Former Rangitoto College class mates Olivia Berry and Penina Davidson were on opposing sides for the first time since school days as the Tall Ferns took on the Melbourne Boomers on Saturday – the Boomers beating an inexperienced New Zealand team 85-62.
Congratulations to Olivia on scoring her first points in the black singlet while Micaela Cocks stretched her record number of appearances for the Tall Ferns to 145.
Another pair of ex-Harbour and Rangitoto teammates were in opposition in Cairns on Sunday. It was Dan Fotu with the smiles as the Sky Sport Breakers beat Sam Waardenburg’s Cairns Taipans in a low scoring contest 68-64, the win taking the Breakers to second on the NBL ladder.
Earlier in the week fellow Breaker Rob Loe brought up 600 career NBL rebounds with 8 boards against South East Melbourne Phoenix while Waardenburg scored 13 points as the Taipans registered an impressive 83-78 road win against defending champions the Sydney Kings.
Tyrell Harrison has made a return to the Brisbane Bullets ranks after a long spell out with injury. He was outstanding in the one-point loss to South East Melbourne Phoenix (89-88) accumulating 11 points and 8 rebounds in just 19 minutes.
Further afield Isaac Fotu scored 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting but Tochigi Brex had their three-game winning streak ended as they dropped their Japanese League double-header at Alvark Tokyo, beaten 77-75 and 60-57. Fotu had 13 points and 7 rebounds in the second loss.
Tai Webster produced 14 points and 5 assists as Socar Petkimspor defeated Darussafaka 94-75 and improve to 2-2 in the Turkish League.
Brother Corey Webster scored 9 points for Perth but the Wildcats were trounced 103-72 by the Tasmanian Jack Jumpers in the Australian NBL.
Another former Harbour and Westlake player Yanni Wetzell enjoyed a couple of midweek outings for ALBA Berlin.
ALBA won a German Cup Round of 16 tie 98-95 against Bonn. Wetzell scored a season high 23 points (9/10FG, 5/7FT) for Berlin while former Breakers teammate Finn Delany notched 12 points for Bonn. Wetzell tied the contest in the closing minute after Bonn had led 93-91. He added two free throws with 20 seconds remaining as the reigning champions advanced to the quarter-finals.
48 hours later he scored 11 points as Berlin thumped Greek side Panathinaikos 94-65 in a EuroLeague fixture.
Bonn put the cup defeat behind them by claiming a 79-72 League win at Braunschweig on Saturday – Delany with 11 points and 7 rebounds.
Also in Germany Matt Freeman scored 13 points, making 3 from 5 from deep, as Bremerhaven won a thriller on the road against Jena 71-69. The victory improves Bremerhaven to 2-2 on the Pro A League ladder.
Tall Fern Tera Reed registered her third double-double in five games as Tampereen Pyrintö secured an exciting 73-72 Finnish League victory at Vimpelin Veto. Tera finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds as Pyrintö improved to 3-2 for the season.
Also close to a third double-double was Zoe Richards as AB Contern easily defeated Les Sangliers 83-60 in Luxemburg League action. Richards finished with 11 points and 9 rebounds as Contern improved to 5-1 on the season.
Nelsonian Gracie Roberts-Hare is playing her fourth season in the Dutch League. After three seasons with Lekdetec she has moved clubs and scored 13 points on debut for Triple Threat in a 71-61 win against Martini Sparks Haren.
LACEY LOWDOWN 