Basketball New Zealand

Kiwis Abroad

While her older sister Aneka is in Beijing, captaining the Tall Ferns and preparing for a tough Olympics campaign, Gemma Kerr just keeps advancing in the South East Australia Basketball League (SEABL) playoffs.

Kerr had 12 points (4/15 FG, 1/6 3pt, 3/4 FT), three rebounds, an assist, steal and block in 29 minutes as her fourth-ranked Kilsyth Lady Cobras upset the second seeded Bendigo Lady Braves 74-70 in Saturday’s preliminary final.

The win, the second straight over a higher-ranked opponent in the playoffs, set up a SEABL final date with the Nunawading Spectres on Saturday and also secured Kilsyth a place at the Australia Basketball Association (ABA) club championships later this month.

Former Tall Fern Adrianne Gilbert also continued her march through the Waratah League, putting up five points (2/6 FG, 1/2 FT), five rebounds, five assists and three steals in 24 minutes as her Bankstown Bruins advanced with a 94-38 win over the Parramatta Wildcats.

Tall Blacks triallist Callum Baynes and former Nelson Giant Rowan Gray remained alive with the defending ABA champion Cairns Marlins in the final round of the Queensland Australia Basketball League (QABL) regular season last week.

The Marlins fell 92-85 to the runaway competition favourite Rockhampton Rockets, with Gray finishing with 11 points (5/10 FG, 1/2 FT) and nine rebounds in 27 minutes, then secured their playoffs berth with a 96-80 win over Gladstone Port City Power, Gray contributing six points (3/11 FG, 0/1 FT), eight rebounds, three blocks and two assists in 35 minutes.

Baynes made limited impact, playing a combined 12 minutes, his sole point coming from the free-throw line.

The Marlins finished the regular season sixth at 12-6 and will travel down the Bruce Highway to meet neighbours, the third-ranked Townsville Heat, in the first quarterfinal on Saturday.

Former Tall Ferns triallist Shannon Proffit and her Maroochydore Clippers are also playoffs-bound in Queensland.

Proffit had six points (3/5 FG, 0/1 3pt), 13 rebounds, 10 assists and three steals in 33 minutes as the Lady Clippers completed their regular season with a 99-75 win over the Toowoomba Mountaineers, finishing sixth at 12-6.

Proffit and the Lady Clips now face the lower-ranked Caboolture Suns in the first round quarterfinal on Saturday.

No such luck for Emerging Tall Black Zane Meehl and former Basketball New Zealand high performance coach Leonard King with the Mackay Meteors, younger brother Zeke Meehl at Maroochydore and Otago Nuggets guard Shaun Tilby with the Gold Coast Goannas, all will be lying on the beach come playoffs time.

Tilby had 17 points (7/13 FG, 2/4 3pt, 1/1 FT), six rebounds, nine assists and two steals in a full 48 minutes as the Gold Coast fell 107-96 to the playoffs-bound South West Metro Pirates in round 16.

Zane Meehl produced seven points (3/10 FG, 0/4 3pt, 1/2 FT), two rebounds, two assists and a steal in 37 minutes in Mackay’s 113-94 blowout loss to the Townsville Heat, while younger brother Zeke ended a horror 0-18 season with the Clippers with four points (1/2 FG, 2/2 FT), two assists and a rebound in 14 minutes in a 104-96 loss to the Toowoomba Mountaineers.

Out West, former Tall Fern Jess Spinner and her Wanneroo Wolves side limped into the State Basketball League (SBL) playoffs with a 58-41 loss to the Cockburn Cougars in round 19, with Spinner contributing five points (1/9 FG, 1/3 3pt, 2/2 FT) and five rebounds in 23 minutes.

The Wolves lost three of their last four but held onto the eighth and final postseason spot, setting up this weekend’s quarterfinal against the regular season champion Willetton Tigers, who had 11 more wins.