Hawks put one hand on the minor premiership after overcoming gallant Stateside

The Hawks took on the struggling Stateside Scorpions and came away with a 99-79 win, putting one hand on the minor premiership on Wednesday night.

But the 20-point margin was a disservice to the Scorpions, who were right in the contest deep into the second half.

Hawks started better as they outmuscled Stateside to the basket to open up an early lead, with Robert Greichen putting in big drives early.

Ryan Blanchett complimented him from the field as the Scorpions struggled with the Hawks’ physicality, committing numerous fouls and lacking awareness with the ball.

They moved the lead beyond 10 points going into the second half and looked on course for an easy victory.

But suddenly they seemed to lose the plot in defence, throwing away the ball far to easily with Stuart Egan and Tristan Jacques punishing them.

Compounded with their shooting percentage dropping, the Scorpions closed to four points with only some get-out-of-jail threes from Fletcher Klasztorny buying them breathing space.

They could sense the moment, with Jack Stone calling on the side to stick together and have fun at a time-out.

Jacques fouled out on the very next play and without another power forward, they lost their shape as Hawks wrested back control and never looked back.

Klasztorny finished with 29 points with Jacques and Egan the best for Scorpions with 18 each.

Tomas Dobson produced his best game of the season to help the Pumas to a big win over the Trades and secure a likely top-two finish.

Pumas were coming off a loss to the Olympians while Trades were hoping to avoid a third loss in a row and keep their slim finals hopes alive.

They started well as Trades managed to drain everything early in a high-octane opening, with neither side getting much of a breather between baskets.

Joseph Iaria and Jake Baker formed a dynamic duo for Trades, both getting to double digits inside the first half.

However, the Trades began to fall away as they tired in defence, giving away 10 fouls inside the first half and allowing Pumas to sink nine points from the line.

Tomas Dobson pounced on the opening, grabbing 25 points in the first half with four threes to help Pumas to 53-38 half-time lead.

He would score eight more points in the second half to finish with 33 — his best haul for the season.

Cambell Surtees had a good second half on his way to a season-best 21 points but the Trades never threatened the lead.

It puts them three games clear in second spot, with three games to go. A top-two finish is all but theirs heading into the finals.

On Tuesday night, Olympians kicked into gear to claim an 18-point win over Chapman Valley, 100-82.

The Warriors sprung an upset when these two sides last met in round seven and with the addition of Russell Hurst, who scored 53 points in his debut last week, it was a big opportunity for Valley to move into third.

It was a tight start with teams trading baskets from inside the paint as Hurst picked up where he left off last week, hitting double digits inside the first half while Richard Bartlett and Johny Narkle responded with threes to keep them level-pegging.

Chapman Valley was at times too casual with the ball, committing unforced turnovers on offensive drives to allow Olympians to open up some breathing space.

The ball was not safe in possession, with both teams grabbing big steals, forcing a back-and-forth half when players often caught out of position.

But the Warriors could not make an indent into the deficit as they trailed by 10 at the half.

The Olympians still had to be wary in the second half with the Warriors always threatening to grab an opening but they were never given one.

While both sides were good from the field, Warriors could not match Olympians from beyond the ark as they hit eight three-pointers to two.

They also found 16 points from outside their top five compared to zero from Chapman Valley, which proved to be the difference.

Hurst finished with a game-high 27 points with five Warriors posting double digits but Johny Narkle (24) and Richard Bartlett (21) were the best for Olympians with six players scoring 10 or more points to take the high-scoring game.