Marlins win again
THE final winning margin might hint at an easy night's work but the Cairns Marlins were forced to earn every point of their 91-72 victory against a plucky South West Metro Pirates at the Bendigo Bank Basketball Centre.
The win was the Marlins’ ninth in a row for the 2009 Queensland Basketball League season but rarely have they been forced to toil as hard.
In the lead-up to last night’s match Marlins coach Aaron Fearne feared his side was starting to become complacent and there was an undoubted sluggishness to the home team’s start.
The Pirates out-hustled the Marlins in the opening minutes of the first quarter and jumped to an early six-point lead.
But the subbing of Deba George into the game injected a dose of intensity into the Marlins’ attack, which subsequently flowed over into their defence.
Suddenly the Marlins started dominating the boards with Aaron Grabau and Rowan Gray leading the charge.
By quarter time the home side was up by seven points and extended that margin to 17 by the main break.
It looked like another blow out was brewing for the Marlins before an energised Pirates launched a fight back in the third quarter.
Aided by some poor shooting by the Marlins, the Pirates went on a 12-point run to narrow the deficit to five.
But when his side looked under threat it was Grabau who stood up when needed most.
The veteran made two big defensive plays in succession which turned momentum back the Marlins’ way.
By the end of the third quarter the home team was up 76-60 and never looked in danger of being run down in the final period.
With star point guard Kerry Williams absent at a Boomers training camp, George (21 points) enjoyed his extra on-court responsibility, while Gray finished with the impressive double of 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Earlier in the night the Dolphins suffered their fourth loss in a row after going down to the Pirates 78-58. Juliana Paunovic was the standout for the Dolphins at the offensive end, finishing with a match high 23 points.
* CAIRNS MARLINS 91 (Rowan Gray 23, Deba George 21, Aaron Grabau 21 d SOUTH WEST METRO PIRATES (Brendan Teys 22, Nathan Niesler 13, Thomas Ammar 12)* SOUTH WEST METRO PIRATES (Erin Brady 19, Jessica Wallis 19, Ashley Wallis 11) d CAIRNS DOLPHINS (Juliana Paunovic 23, Ashley North 9)
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Can't stop me: Cairns' Aaron Grabau surges down court in last night's win over the Pirates in Cairns. Picture: MIKE WATT
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