The Hawke’s Bay Hawks have predictably opened the 43rd National Basketball League (NBL) season with a comfortable win.
Teen phenom Jackson Ball compiled a crazy stat-line as the Big Barrel Hawks eased out to a 112-78 victory over the Sal’s NBL’s newest franchise, the Indian Panthers, on Wednesday night in Napier.
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Ball, the MVP at last week’s Westside Blitz preseason tournament, went off for a career-high 40 points (15/19 FG, 5/7 3pt) and pulled down nine rebounds, to go with four assists and two steals.
The Napier Boys’ High School deputy head boy, who celebrated his 17th birthday on Monday, had previously only scored 47 points in 14 games for the Hawks last season.
All five Hawks starters scored in double-digits, with American forward Darnell Cowart (19 points and 12 rebounds) and Clifton Bush III (13 points and 11 boards) putting up double-doubles). `
Campbell Scott had 16 points, five rebounds and six assists and Kobe Kara 12 points and eight boards.
The Panthers - missing five of their Indian players due to a national team training camp and fielding a roster of NZ-based players, most with little to no NBL experience - were led by American guard Alex Robinson Jr’s 24 points (9/21 FG), eight rebounds and five assists.
Jaylen Gerrand, who last played for the Southland Sharks in 2022, had 16 points (6/19 FG, 2/8 3pt) and 39-year-old former Tall Black Leon Henry, who was last week named as the Panthers’ ambassador, added eight points and six boards.
The make-shift Panthers quieted the Rodney Green Arena crowd early as Gerrand had 11 points in the first quarter, putting the visitors up 24-18.
But Ball had 26 points in the second and third periods as the Hawks out-scored the short-handed Panthers 59-29 to put the game away.
The Hawks (1-0) host the neighbouring Manawatū Jets on Saturday (tip-off 4pm), while the Panthers (0-1) have a week to regroup before facing the Franklin Bulls in the South Auckland Showdown next Friday (tip-off 7.30pm).
In the Sky Rapid League curtain-raiser, the Panthers held on for a 36-35 win over the Hawks, with Cooper Lepou and Dante Matakatea in double figures. Harry Keighley had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Hawks.
Big Barrel Hawke’s Bay Hawks 112 (Jackson Ball 40, Darnell Cowart 19, Campbell Scott 16, Clifton Bush III 13, Kobe Kara 12) Indian Panthers 78 (Alex Robinson Jr 24, Jaylen Gerrand 16). 1Q: 18-24, HT: 51-38, 3Q: 87-53