The Roller Hawks sit 11 points clear at the top of the National Wheelchair Basketball League ladder but the competition for finals spots is wide open after the league’s NSW and Western Australian based teams completed Round 4.

Going into the mini-cluster round, where the two NSW teams (Wollongong & Sydney) and the two Perth based teams (Wheelcats & Red Dust Heelers) each competed in 4 games over 3 days, the Red Dust Heelers sat in last place having played just four games while the Wheelcats were in fourth but had just two wins to their name this year.

Despite being at opposite ends of the ladder, Red Dust took it to the Roller Hawks and remained in touch throughout the opening three quarters thanks to new American import Josh Turek.  The 2016 Paralympic gold medalist finished with a triple double including 30 points, 17 rebounds and 11 assists.

However it was Red Dust veteran and coach Brad Ness that lit up in the final quarter scoring 14 of his 16 points which, combined with Turek’s 6 points in the final quarter, accounted for all 20 of Red Dust’s points in last term as they managed to keep the Roller Hawks to just 13 and claim victory.

Roller Hawks’ centre Michael Auprince scored a double double with 15 points and 11 rebounds but found combatting the experienced American difficult.

“We had trouble adapting to the style of play that their new import brought to their team. He has played on the international stage for years and he knows the game of wheelchair basketball,” said Auprince.

“After discussions among the team, we decided to put it past us and focus more on playing as a team.”

“We realised that both he (Turek) and Shaun Norris (from Perth) are going to get their points, we focused on limiting the chances of the rest of their teammates had to score.”

The re-group worked with the Roller Hawks winning their remaining three games by an average of 22 points.

Brett Stibners lead Wollongong averaging 21 points, 6.5 rebounds and 11 assists per contest, closely followed by Auprince who scored a double double in all four games and averaged 20.3 points and 14.5 rebounds per game across the weekend. Shaun Russell averaged 19.3 points across four games.

“I had a pretty decent game against Perth the first time we played them,” says Auprince who had 36 points and 19 rebounds in that game. “It was great to see the emphasis that my teammates are putting on getting me the ball.”

The weekend saw big minutes from Ash James-Kennedy.  In a side deep with low pointers, James-Kennedy had seen just 17 minutes of NWBL game time all season, but in the absence of Darren Hayes, Tim Markcrow and Hannah Dodd, the man they call ‘Choppy’ averaged 18 minutes per contest across four games including close to 35 minutes in Wollongong’s 28 point win over Perth on Saturday morning.

The Roller Hawks finished with 3 wins and 1 loss for the weekend as did the Red Dust Heelers while Perth had 2 wins and 2 losses. It was an unhappy weekend for the host side, Sydney Metro Blues, who lost all four of their games.

The Roller Hawks now have a four week break with Round 5 only involving the Red Dust Heelers and Perth Wheelcats and Round 6 only contested between Queensland and Adelaide. The Roller Hawks host the Adelaide Thunder in Round 7.

ROUND 4 RESULTS

Friday May 18: RED DUST HEELERS 76 def. ROLLER HAWKS 72

Friday May 18: PERTH WHEELCATS 85 def. SYDNEY METRO BLUES 70

Saturday May 19: ROLLER HAWKS 88 def. PERTH WHEELCATS 60

Saturday May 19: RED DUST HEELERS 73 def. SYDNEY METRO BLUES 57

Saturday May 19: ROLLER HAWKS 67 def. RED DUST HEELERS 60

Saturday May 19: PERTH WHEELCATS 85 def. SYDNEY METRO BLUES 63

Sunday May 20: ROLLER HAWKS 83 def. PERTH WHEELCATS 52

Sunday May 20: RED DUST HEELERS 77 def. SYDNEY METRO BLUES 52