Heat Reserves Hit Triple In CBL
Tagged in: CBL, Competitions
Mexicali Fresh Harbour Heat Reserves worked triple-time in round two of Conference Basketball League (CBL) Northern Conference play but still had no problems.
The Heat Reserves improved to 4-0 last week, handing three teams their first losses of the season – 84-72 against the JTB/Breakers Development team on Tuesday night, 74-69 over previous leaders, Western Bay Suns, on Saturday afternoon, and 80-78 versus the previously unbeaten Waikato Pistons Development on Sunday.
Harbour NBL bench players Dan Ryan and Brandon Brighouse starred for the Reserves, Ryan scoring a round-high 30 points in the midweek win over the JTB/Breakers and having 15 against the Suns.
Brighouse scored game-highs of 21 points against Western Bay and 28 against Waikato, getting aid from former NBL player Michael Dawson, 17 points and eight rebounds in the Suns game, and Karl Noyer, on the Auckland Stars NBL roster, with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the Pistons Development thriller on the AUT campus.
The Pistons, who defeated Tai Tokerau 62-57 in Kamo on Saturday, got big performances against Harbour from Andrew McCowan with 15 points and 14 rebounds and NBL bencher Uani Talagi with 11 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Counties/Te Wananga were the other movers in round two, remaining the only other undefeated team at 3-0 after wins over the Taupo Volcanoes, 95-74, on Saturday and Eastern Bays, 92-84, on Sunday.
Joe Jackson led Counties in both games, with 23 points against the Volcanoes and 19 points against Eastern Bays.
Jared Purcell had a strong back-up weekend, with 18 points against Taupo and 17 points and 10 rebounds on Sunday, while Kere Harnett had 14 points and 10 rebounds against Eastern, and Mahia Nathan and Cory Poa posted 16 points on Saturday.
The JTB/Breakers chased their Tuesday night loss to the Heat with back-to-back wins at the weekend, upsetting the defending CBL champion Waikato Titans 92-85 - who fell to 1-2 after two rounds, getting their sole win on Friday night, 89-87 over Auckland – and edging by Burger King Northside 67-64 on Sunday.
Junior Tall Black Rob Loe had 20 points and 14 rebounds in a dominant display against Jeff Green’s Titans, canceling out Kazlo Evans’ 26 points, eight rebounds, three assists and five steals game.
Logan van Beek top-scored in a low-scoring affair against Northside, who also play their home games at the Breakers Facility on the North Shore, while Loe pulled down 15 boards. David Clarke had a game-high 16 points and former NBL player Warrick Siddall 15 points for Northside.
Northern Conference Results
Round 2
Tuesday, May 6
Mexicali Fresh Harbour Heat Reserves 84 (Dan Ryan 30) JTB/Breakers 72 (Sam King 18)
Friday, May 9
Waikato Titans 89 (Kazlo Evans 18) Auckland 87 (Dan Kral 21)
Saturday, May 10
Counties/Te Wananga 95 (Joe Jackson 23) Taupo Volcanoes 74 (Mike Wells 24)
JTB/Breakers 92 (Rob Loe 20) Waikato Titans 85 (Kazlo Evans 26)
Mexicali Fresh Harbour Heat Reserves 74 (Brandon Brighouse 21) Western Bay Suns 69 (Ike Smith 19)
Waikato Pistons Development 62 (Jonathon Kraenzlin 13) Tai Tokerau 57 (Travis McIlroy 18)
Massey vs AUT – no score provided
Sunday, May 11
Massey vs Taupo Volcanoes – no score provided
JTB/Breakers 67 (Logan van Beek 15) Northside 64 (David Clarke 16)
Counties/Te Wananga 92 (Joe Jackson 19) Eastern Bays 84 (Teriaki Martin 15)
Mexicali Fresh Harbour Heat Reserves 80 (Brandon Brighouse 28) Waikato Pistons Development 78 (Jonathon Kraenzlin 16)
