Close wins for Saints, Hawks, Sharks, Whai
- NZ Sports Wire
- Mar 7
- 2 min read
After early blowouts, the National Basketball League's Westside Blitz preseason tournament finally produced some close games.
The Tauranga Whai and Hawke's Bay Hawks made it two-from-two, while the Wellington Saints and Southland Sharks picked up their first wins in Greymouth and Westport on Thursday night.
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Junior Tall Black and recent Tall Blacks call-up Jackson Ball had the standout performance of day three, going for 29 points in the Hawks' 98-89 win over the two-time defending champion Canterbury Rams.
Ball went 8-of-11 from the floor, 5-of-8 on three-point attempts and 8-of-10 at the foul-line, adding five assists and two steals. He was supported by 19 points from Jacob Murphy and Campbell Scott, while their sole import Darnell Cowart put up 10 points, four boards and four assists.
The Rams, without Taylor Britt and their three imports, had four players in double-digits, led by NZ Breakers development player Max Darling with 15 points (6/13 FG, 3/8 3pt), nine rebounds, four assists and two steals.
A second-half fightback earned the Whai a 71-69 win over the Nelson Giants, with Carter Hopoi scoring a team-high 19 points (8/14 FG, 2/7 3pt) to go with three blocks.
American guard Chris Jones had 17 points (7/11 FG), five boards, five assists and three steals, one-time Tall Black Kruz Perrott-Hunt 16 points (5/10 FG, 3/4 3pt) and Australian forward Sean Bairstow also had 11 points.
American forward Brice Johnson led the G-Men with 15 points (7/10 FG) and six rebounds, while Junior Tall Black Hayden Jones finished with 13 points (5/12 FG) and eight boards.
The Southland Sharks got the first look at their import trio and must have been pleased after their 80-74 win over the Taranaki Airs.
Caleb Asberry (22 points, six boards, four assists, two steals), Josiah Allick (22 points, 14 rebounds) and Keylan Boone (17 points, eight boards, four steals, two blocks) combined for more than three-quarters of the Sharks points.
American guard Armon Fletcher and NZ Breakers development player Carlin Davison led the Airs with 17 points, with Davison adding eight boards and six assists. Dom Kelman-Poto and Jack Andrew each had 15 points, with Andrew pulling in 12 rebounds.
Likewise, American big man Nick Muszynski was a key figure in his first game in the Saints' 87-82 win over the Auckland Tuatara.
Muszynski put up 17 points (7/12 FG), eight rebounds and three blocks for the Saints, who also had local products Troy Plumtree (14 points, eight boards, four assists), Kazlo Evans Jr (13 points, five boards, six assists) and Arthur Pilcher (12 points, five boards, five assists) score in double-digits.
Import guard Buay Tuach made a big impression for the Tuatara, with a game-high 25 points (10/19 FG), five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Dylan Wilkie also had 14 points off the bench and Josh Leger 12 rebounds.