NBL1 West: Determined Hawks with Albany duo do enough to hold out persistent Redbacks in front of big crowd

The homecomings did not quite follow the script, but a full house of basketball fans watched as Perry Lakes Hawks held off Perth Redbacks 87-79 in a NBL1 West contest at the Albany Leisure and Aquatic Centre on Saturday night. Albany’s Matt Leary’s 12 minutes on court for the Hawks brought him a superb three-pointer, converted practically from the front row of the bleachers, five assists and a broken nose that ended his night prematurely. Hawks’ medical staff carried out a concussion test, which the talented guard passed and while he was clearly shaken for a while afterwards, he was able eventually to take his seat on the team bench and watch the remainder of the game. For young gun Billy McRae, it was a night spent on the bench despite his friends and family in the crowd shouting his name from the stands. His coach Damian Barr apologised saying that had the game not been so close, McRae would have got his moment. “If we had been 15 points up, I would have put him on, but it was just too tight,” he said. The result means the Hawks sit just outside the top eight and are still in with a chance of playing finals, while Redbacks are 12th and probably out of the hunt. Luke Phillips, Hawks’ top points scorer with 21, was named player of the match. The first quarter was full of errors and turnovers as both sides found their feet. Seva Chan, playing his 300th SBL/NBL1 controlled the proceedings as Hawks ran into a 24-16 lead, Jaden Stanley-Williams adding the gloss to the scoreline with a three pointer on the buzzer. Redbacks had closed to within two points midway through the second quarter and to within one as Leary was forced off with five minutes to play. However, a long-range attempt from Redbacks’ Lochlan Cummings, which would have put them ahead, bounced off the basket and two immediate three-point replies from the Hawks helped them to an 11-point advantage by half time. The Hawks upped the intensity after the break but Redbacks kept fighting back. It was the Hawks who were the more clinical when it counted, and they finished the quarter 10 points up with Redbacks ruing their inaccuracies from range. In the fourth quarter the Hawks toyed with the shot clock as they kept Redbacks at bay, the final basket coming with a mighty dunk from Stanley-Williams which got the loudest cheer of the night. Phillips hit four from long range in and hauled in six rebounds and was well assisted by Stanley-Williams with 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Kyiah O’Donohue gave great impact off the bench for the Hawks with three triples on his way to 11 points while Nicholas Floyd (18 points, six rebounds) and Chan (nine points, six assists, four steals) were also busy. Redbacks coach Charles Nix said wayward shooting had cost his side. “I think we shot at 14 percent from the three-point line and that won’t win you matches,” he said. “We put pressure on them and matched them throughout but didn’t quite do enough in the big moments.” For Barr, the trip was worth it. “They are a really young group and did a lot of things really well,” he said. “I’m proud of how they played.” The Redbacks won the final two quarters but were left to rue a slow beginning as Cummings hit 21 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists while skipper Jacob Formosa (11 points), Emmanuel Kanwei (13) and Connor Mincherton (16) were also in double figures.