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The Roller Hawks have consolidated top spot on the NWBL ladder with comfortable victories against the last placed Adelaide Thunder.

 

 

The Roller Hawks claimed a 100-35 victory on Saturday before backing up with a 89-34 win on Sunday.

Round 7 Shawn Russell 2 vs Thunder WEB

 

Despite the enormous difference in Saturday’s scoreline, on Sunday coach Brendan Dowler pressed his team to minimise Adelaide’s scoring opportunities inside the paint where the Thunder had scored 22 of their 35 points, knowing that such defensive lapses would be costly against stronger teams come finals.

 

Captain Brett Stibners starred on Saturday night with 43 points (on 20 from 26 shooting), 12 assists and 8 rebounds but echoed his coaches sentiments.  

 

“We knew it was going to be a tough weekend to stay focussed but I think we achieved that,” said Stiners.

 

“We were just trying to start to build towards something. We play Brisbane in a few of weeks which for us is a really important two games and then the finals are after that and Brisbane are going to be really tough, they should go close to winning this year.”

 

Michael Auprince finished with 32 points and 15 rebounds while Shawn Russell chimed in with a double-double off the bench with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

 

“We just got back from playing for Australia in Japan and you’re playing against the Japanese who are in your face, make it really difficult to get open shots then you come back to national league and you can find open shots a lot easier.”

 

Stibners again shone in Sunday’s clash with 30 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds while Shawn Russell scored another double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds but the Roller Hawks had contributors right across the score sheet with 5 players in double figures.

“Games like this it’s really good to run through different combinations and see if they work. Everyone contributed today. ‘Chopper’ (Ash James-Kennedy) played really well and so did little Nick (Scott).”

Round 7 Huddle vs Thunder WEB

 

The win comes just days after Stibners, Michael Auprince and Luke Pople returned from Japan where they played with the Aussie Rollers in a warm up tournament in the lead up to the World Cup later this year.


“We did pretty well. We lost in the finals to Japan which was disappointing in a way because I’ve never lost to Japan in 10 years but that just shows how much they’ve improved.”

 

“Our coach reckons we’re about a 6 out of 10 at the moment so we’re still building towards the World Cup. Hopefully we get to 8s and 9s out of 10 when we get to the tournament.”

 

While the representative break creates a disjointed domestic season, the opportunity to represent Australia is one Stibners doesn’t take for granted.

 

“I love being part of the Rollers. The comradery within the team is fantastic. The coaching staff is great and just building towards something together is just a special thing to be a part of.”

 

The Roller Hawks have another bye in Round 8 which takes place on 22-24 June before their final regular season games in Round 9 when they host the second placed Queensland Spinning Bullets on the 7th and 8th of July.

 

ROUND 7 RESULTS

Saturday June 16: ROLLER HAWKS 100 def. ADELAIDE THUNDER 35

Sunday June 17: ROLLER HAWKS 89 def. ADELAIDE THUNDER 34