Slammers still undefeated
The Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers are looming as a legitimate championship threat after defeating the Stirling Senators and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns convincingly on the weekend.
On Saturday night, the Slammers demolished the Stirling Senators 130-116 at the Warwick Leisure Centre.
Despite winning by double digits, the final score line does not accurately reflect the Slammers dominance with the visitors leading by as many as 29 early in the third quarter before clearing the bench for big parts of the second half.
The Senators had no answers for the South West’s varied offence.
Big man Clive Weeden (34 points from 14 of 15 field goals) well complemented by guards Tre Nichols (32 points) and Ty Harrelson (23 points, nine assists, five rebounds).
Import Brian Voelkel continued his impressive debut professional season, grabbing 20 rebounds and displaying outstanding court awareness and passing skills from inside the paint and outside the arc to collect eight assists for the side.
Voelkel, who also scored 11 points and was tasked with defending standout Senators forward Cody Ellis, has quickly established himself as an integral part of the Slammers starting five.
Ellis, the obvious focal point of the Stirling offence, fought his way to the basket all night and finished with 27 points, but was restricted to just 10 of 21 from the field.
With Weeden and Trent Worthington going to work underneath the basket it did not take long for holes to appear in the Senators’ perimeter defence and when they did Harrelson and Nichols were clinical, combining for nine of 13 from beyond the arc.
After building a 72-49 lead at half-time the Slammers incorporated more of their bench players in the second half, with young forwards Mitch Keller (eight points and four rebounds) and Jordan Hickert (nine points and four rebounds) both flashing their future potential.
Then on Sunday afternoon the Slammers downed the Suns 105-88, with Nichols bringing the team home in a massive last quarter.
Nichols finished the game with 30 points, but it was his last quarter which was sensational as the dynamic player scored 21 points to put the result beyond doubt.
Weeden continued his great weekend, scoring 21 points and bringing down 13 rebounds in a dominant display from the big centre.
Voelkel again showed his power on the boards, bringing down 24 rebounds (including 19 defensive rebounds) as the Suns failed to curb his influence.
The Slammers started the game slowly, with the Suns unable to take the lead during the contest but always within a few baskets to keep the home side honest.
Harrelson did not use his bench a lot through the game, with Hickert and Keller gaining a few minutes of court time while Josh England and Brandon Canzirri were unsighted.
For the Suns it was Lien Phillip who was the star, scoring 34 points and grabbing 21 rebounds in a great display, while Seva Chan scored 16 points in a hard fought effort.
