Pumas seal grand final spot in win over Hawks as Evans goes big in second half

Pumas have booked another grand final berth in the Geraldton Amateure Basketball Association after a hard-fought 87-73 over the minor premiers Hawks. The two sides had met the week prior with Pumas winning by more than 40 points but there was nothing on the line that game. Now a grand final berth was on the line with both teams naming full-strength line-ups. Michael Wright hit back-to-back corner threes to get the Hawks off to a perfect start but that was as big a lead as either side would get inside the first half. As always Fletcher Klasztorny was the big force for Hawks with 16 points in the first half with support from Ryan Blanchett, who has missed last week’s game, with 11. Liam Hunt and Harry Evans were matching them with 15 and 12 points, respectively, as the teams traded baskets with neither able to gain an upper hand. Pumas were structured better throughout the first half, particularly in defence, but Hawks had enough strength and power to bust through to go into the half trailing by just one point 42-41. An area of concern for both sides were the fouls with both teams filling up their counts with Tomas Dobson and Klasztorny picking up three, meaning they would have to watch themselves in the second half. Both teams continued to match each other to start the second and the game would come down to who could get off the chain to break the game open. Evans was the man as he got hot hands nailing his field shooting on the back of some ankle-breaking step-back shots that left the Hawks defence flat-footed. For the first time since the opening shots the lead moved beyond a single basket and the Hawks seemed to struggle with the pressure as their usually excellent shooting deserted them. Their problems were compounded when Klasztorny fouled out on a questionable hand foul in which he seemed to get all ball after it was fired off at close range. There was no way back for the Hawks from there as Evans finished with a massive 33 points with 21 coming in the second half. Liam Hunt praised the Pumas’ physicality. “That’s as physical as we’ve been all season and we saw that at the end of the game when they began to tire,” he said. “We were able to control the pace of the game and we just have to make sure come the grand final next week we come out with that same mentality.” Hawks will now face the Olympians on Monday night in hopes for a chance at revenge.