Buccs show Slammers no mercy

Before Saturday night’s clash against the South West Slammers at the Eaton Recreation Centre, The Geraldton Guardian asked Geraldton Buccaneers coach Dayle Joseph outside the locker room whether his men could “make it rain” offensively on the floor.

The Buccs boss replied in the affirmative and sure enough, he was true to his word.

Hitting 10 of their first 15 shots inside, the Buccs rolled to a 103-56 massacre over the Slammers, who were woeful defensively from tip-off.

Keen for a solid start, the visitors showed no mercy, with Colter Lasher’s grunt under the offensive glass and Deangelo Isby’s driving in the paint a testament of the Buccs’ desire to put in a complete performance.

Lasher had 27 points, eight rebounds, five assists and Isby scored 22 points with 11 rebounds, seven assists.

The Buccs went on a 13-1 run inside the opening four minutes en route to a 31-7 quarter-time lead, which reflected the chasm in class between the two sides.

St Mary’s-bound offensive threat Alex Ducas was efficient from the three-point line, while youngster Taj Pirrottina also shone, slotting a three-pointer on his SBL debut.

But aware of the challenges which lie ahead, including this weekend’s double-header against the Lightning and Senators, Joseph was pleased his side maintained plenty of “intangible plays” (positive acts of team effort not recorded on a stats sheet) despite the lopsided nature of the contest.

“We played with the intensity we thought we were going to need for 40 minutes of every game irrelevant of the score,” he said.

“I think anything less than that would be disrespectful to the opposition and a little bit to our teammates if we weren’t playing hard.”

Still buzzing from their spectacular win, the Buccs went up against Mandurah Magic at the Waroona Recreation Centre on Sunday.

Working hard from the get-go, the Buccs mopped the floor with the Magic, claiming a 121-75 victory.

The Buccs will head to Perth this weekend to take on Lakeside Lightning on Saturday and Warwick Senators on Sunday.