Geraldton basketball round 14: Hawks take down Pumas and knock them out of the race for second spot

The Hawks got up in the rematch against the Pumas and knocked them out of the race for second spot on the ladder in the men’s division one, in the penultimate round of the Geraldton Basketball Association.

With the season winding down, the race at the top has become tight and all three teams — Olympians, Hawks and Pumas were alive in the race for second spot heading into round 14.

The Olympians had the advantage, but the Hawks and Pumas needed a win to stay in the running, and it was the Hawks who got up during the third match-up between the teams.

The sides were missing key players, with league-leading scorer Bob Griechen from the Hawks and facilitator Harry Evans from the Pumas away playing in the under-20’s National Championship.

Pumas were the side to get off to a hot start in the Tuesday clash, with Clayton and Farren Parfitt getting early shots in, but the Hawks were quickly able to turn it around and tie the game up halfway through the first term.

The Hawks side managed to build up a lead but consecutive scoring from Flynn Dillon kept the Pumas in the match.

The game continued to be competitive, with the scores tied with four minutes left in the fourth quarter, but the Hawks kicked into gear and put up 13 unanswered points to come away with the 87-100 win.

Hawks stars Fletcher Klasztorny (28) and Ryan Blanchett (21), helped lead the team to the important win, while Farren Parfitt (26) was the Pumas top scorer.

Now the Pumas are out of the race for a spot in the qualifying final and will face either the Hawks or Olympians in the elimination final.

The Olympians hold the one game advantage and are looking primed to hold onto their second place spot after their win against the Trades on Wednesday.

The Olympians win did not come easy however, as Trades looked to be in position to upset a finals team for a third straight week as they mounted a late comeback.

It was a 10-point game in the Olympians favour at the start of the final term, but Trades cut away at it throughout the quarter and the Olympians were without Johny Narkle in the fourth after he fouled out.

Trades managed to cut the lead down to two points, with just over a minute left to play.

However, they couldn’t keep their momentum rolling and the Olympians put up nine points in one minute to keep the lead and get the 97-86 win.

Despite fouling out in the third, Narkle still put up a massive 33 points in the win, while Liam Bennett (30) had another big scoring night.

The game’s leading scorer came from Campbell Surtees from the Trades, who dropped 34 points with six threes in the loss.

In the other match-up between the undefeated Chapman Valley and winless Stateside, a poor first quarter from the Scorpions put them in a deficit that they couldn’t come back from and Valley keep their perfect record alive in the 117-68 win.

During the victory, Valley saw four players put up more than 20 points in Aaron Ralph (30), Mathew Wundenberg (30), Russell Hurst (27) and Elliot Bennett (22).

While the Stateside squad had scoring come from Beau Simpson (21) and Stuart Egan (18).

In the division two action, the Pumas got up 80-61 over the Hawks, Stateside beat Chapman Valley 72-58 and Trades continue their unbeaten run with a 92-52 win over the eOlympians.