Hawks shoot their way out of trouble as Pumas hold off Chapman Valley challenge

Hawks and Olympians played a high-scoring shootout on Wednesday night as the Hawks maintained their one-game gap at the top with a hard-fought 128-115 win. Olympians have played some of their best basketball since returning from the break with two big wins over Pumas and Warriors but they lined up against the Hawks without two of their best players in Richard Bartlett and Johny Narkle. It left Liam Bennett and Isaac Smith as their most dangerous weapons. Hawks had their daunting line-up of Buccs stars with Fletcher Klasztorny, Ryan Blanchett and Robert Greichen and they were too hot to handle for the Olympians. Without the best three-point shooter in Narkle, Olympians struggled to match the Hawks from deep as they could edge away building a gap hovering around the 10-point mark. But while the Hawks’ shooting was elite, their passing and play-making left something to be desired as Olympians began to feast on a series of turnovers. Shaeden Edwards, Isaac Smith, Quinton Narkle and Malik Meunier all had wide-open dunks as Hawks were left wrong-footed and could do little more than watch from the other end of the court. The gap closed to within a basket but Olympians couldn’t hit the lead as the Hawks will still able to sink enough threes to keep their noses in front, leading 65-63 at half-time. In the second half, Hawks again got the better start, going on a 15-3 run in the opening three minutes, with Greichen leading the way. But Olympians managed to close back in as the teams continued to go back and forth. Ultimately, like the first half, the Olympians could never get in front, eventually falling by 13 points in the highest scoring match of the season. In the later game, Pumas held off the Chapman Valley Warriors in a come-from-behind 73-64 win. Warriors got the better start, with Buccs captain Mathew Wundenberg forming a tag team with Russell Hurst early to drive their way to a seven-point lead. But in a back-and-forth contest, Pumas clawed back into the game on the back of Liam Hunt and Harry Evans’ field shooting as they closed to within three points at half-time. Hunt and Evans would continue to lead the way in the second half as Hunt had his best game of the season, with 29 points including nine from deep. Elliot Bennett answered back with two of his own while Hurst continued to be dangerous inside the paint. But Evans equalled his best game of the season with 21 points and despite the Warriors’ bench outscoring the Pumas, 24-13, they couldn’t make up the difference at the top. It leaves Pumas with a faint hope of taking the minor premiership off the Hawks while the Warriors have not yet locked themselves into finals, just two points ahead of Trades. Trades kept their season alive on Tuesday with a hard-fought win over Stateside, thanks to 21 points from captain Joseph Iaria. Stateside have the worst foul record in the league and it came back to bite them as they committed 24 fouls, giving up a massive 21 points from the free-throw line. Trades were only marginally better, giving up 20 fouls on their own but Stateside only grabbed eight points from the line which proved to be the difference in a contest that was even in most other areas. Tristan Jacques proved he is Scorpion’s best player when he can stay on the court as he managed to avoid fouling out for the first time in three games and went on to have his best game of the season with 24 points. Stuart Egan also had a good game, cracking 20 points for just the second time this season. But Iaria, who had eight points from the line, along with the twin talls of Lachlan Morphew and Campbell Surtees, who had 16 points apiece, secured the vital 10-point win. It officially knocks Stateside out of the running for finals while Trades move to 4-9, one game behind Warriors in fourth with two games left to play.