Sometimes a result is so painfully obvious in just the first quarter of a basketball game that it becomes pointless trying to drive home any other messages.
That pretty much sums up the Taylor Corporation Hawks’ comfortable 89-79 victory over Go Media Manawatu Jets in Palmerston North tonight.
“We got off to a good start, we executed and played well as a team and the result was probably never in doubt from the end of the first quarter,” was the verdict of Hawks coach Zico Coronel after the visitors posted an emphatic first deposit of 27-10 in the first 15 minutes of the round two Sal’s National Basketball League encounter at Ballroom Arena Manawatu.
Coronel labelled the second spell, 47-28 (20-18), as “sloppy” from the Jarrod Kenny-skippered Hawks but lauded his young charges for coming on to maintain the lead into the final two quarters — 65-45 (18-17) and 89-74 (24-29).
Gold Coast Commonwealth Games bronze medal-winning Tall Black Ethan Rusbatch claimed a team-high 16 points while fellow Hawks newbie Mitchell Newton scored 15 and Hyrum Harris contributed 12 to the collective cause.
For the hosts, point guard Daishon Knight had a game-high 22 points, Kuran Iverson scored 18 and Brandon Lucas added 14.
That the Jets struggled from the field was a testimony to the Hawks’ defence, forcing the hosts to chance their arm from outside the arc with dismal returns of six from 30 (20 per cent).
The Hawks’ depth was reflected in their bench which mustered 52 points compared with the Jets’ 13 but Coronel was mindful of inflation creeping into the match so he injected 11 of his 12 players in the first quarter.
“I guess for the best part of the back-to-back [presence] no one played over 21 minutes, I believe, so I believe everyone’s well rested,” he said.
The Hawks travel to New Plymouth where they’ll tip off against the Augusta Taranaki Mountainairs at 7pm tomorrow in their first double header on the road.