Perth Wildcats hit back to wallop Snakes in Cairns
Chris Pike |
The Perth Wildcats have inflicted a fourth huge loss on the Cairns Taipans just eight games into the NBL season with a 110-78 Ignite Cup road win.
The Wildcats, without two imports, dominated from the start to hand the Taipans another massive loss this season.
In fact, the hosts’ biggest resistance on the night came post-match when Cairns forward Admiral Schofield almost came to blows with a host of ‘Cats players when shaking hands.
Once Taipans coach Adam Forde saw his team fail to follow the defensive plan on the first 20 possessions, he knew it was going to be a long night.
“We say and do all the right things, and you have players that put importance on what needs to get done,” he said.
“So we say it and then we don’t do it and in that first quarter, there were 21 possessions we had to defend and it wasn’t until the 21st that we finally sent Ben Henshall on his non-preferred hand.”
The visitors arrived at Cairns Convention Centre after losing at home to the Brisbane Bullets and away to the Sydney Kings by a combined 39 points.
Along the way they parted ways with import guard Mason Jones and lost forward Dylan Windler to an ankle injury, but were a team on a mission.
The Taipans were without first-choice front courter Jack McVeigh and Sam Waardenburg, as Perth raced to a 27-13 lead in the first quarter having gone on a 20-6 run.
The Wildcats were well in control when leading 60-42 at half-time on 64 per cent shooting along with 7-of-11 from downtown. The Taipans struggled at 5-of-20 from deep which made up a large chunk of their 36 attempts.
Cairns did enjoy a brief flurry scoring 10 straight points in the third term, but the Wildcats responded with their own 17-2 run to close the quarter on the way to the destructive 32-point win.
Perth are now 4-3 thanks to Jo Lual-Acuil Jr top-scoring with 24 points with three rebounds, three blocks and two assists.
Lone remaining import Kristian Doolittle stepped up for 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists while Elijah Pepper hit 3-of-4 from deep for 18 points and four assists.
Jaron Rillie earned his first start and had 10 points and six rebounds, with Ben Henshall adding 10 points along with Next Star Noa Kouakou-Heugue having his best NBL night with eight points and four rebounds.
Wildcats coach John Rillie was proud of his team’s all-round effort to hit back.
“I would say it’s the first game this season where we’ve had contributors across the floor and we had five guys in double figures,” he said.
“It also helps when you make shots, it’s amazing what that can do for your confidence.”
Cairns (2-6) have now lost five straight and had four losses by at least 31 points with Schofield top-scoring with 16 points with 2-of-9 three-point shooting.
Fellow import Andrew Andrews went just 1-of-4 from downtown too for 10 points and four assists while Marcus Lee only managed 16 minutes before fouling out.
AAP
