A first-quarter blitz from Tommy Greer has handed the Melbourne Tigers a comprehensive 87-64 victory over the Cairns Taipans at the State Netball Hockey Centre on Saturday night to celebrate Sam Mackinnon’s 450th NBL match in style.
The result sees Melbourne’s slim playoffs aspirations still in tact and ended a hat-trick of losses to the Taipans this season.
Greer set The Cage alight in the first term with four three-pointers from as many attempts for a total of 14 before quarter-time.
He ended up with 16 points and was well-supported by Daniel Johnson, who scored 10 of his 14 points in the final quarter and collected nine rebounds, Julius Hodge (13 points) and milestone man Mackinnon (11, six rebounds).
For Cairns, Ian Crosswhite (15) and Julien Mills (15) were the standouts.
Such was Melbourne’s dominance that its lead was in double-figures for over 35 minutes.
But the Taipans also had themselves to blame, recording a paltry 35 percent (22-63) from the field compared to the Tigers’ 48 (29-60)
Greer set the tone for the match at the offensive end to hand his team a huge 19-point lead (32-13) at the opening change.
The Tigers could do no wrong in the first period, bursting out of the blocks with a 9-0 run prompting Cairns coach Aaron Fearne to call a time-out just two minutes into the match.
And while the Taipans managed to momentarily stem the Tigers’ early-scoring spree, the hosts kicked into gear again to blow away Cairns with 23 of the last 31 points of the quarter.
Melbourne’s immense defensive pressure - highlighted by two huge Mark Worthington blocks – saw Cairns only manage 3-12 field goals for the stanza and turn the ball over at crucial times.
The second quarter was an arm wrestle for the most part with both teams trading baskets for the first two minutes before Dusty Rychart ensured Cairns became the first team to score consecutive buckets for the period and cut the deficit to 14 points (36-22).
But scores from Hodge and Johnson pushed the gap back out to the quarter-time figure of 19 (41-22) and the term reverted to the tug-of-war style it started in.
And when Chris Anstey got amongst the dazzling Melbourne first-half three-point show (8-12), Crosswhite’s best efforts in the shadow of half-time counted for little as Melbourne’s advantage blew out to a first-half-high 20 (49-29).
Greer went to extraordinary lengths to get back on the scoreboard after a barren second period, tapping an unsuccessful Kerry Williams attempt back into the basket for a Cairns double.
Soon after Crosswell, Anstey and Worthington combined to extend the Tigers’ advantage to 54-33.
The Taipans responded with one of their brightest patches of the match that yielded a 9-2 run and when Mills drained consecutive triples, Cairns was within 14 (56-42).
And two free throws from Crosswhite got the Taipans as close as they had been to Melbourne for almost two quarters but his team would never recover from a sample of individual brilliance from Darryl Corletto.
After scoring a nice two-pointer, he executed a clever steal to run back down Melbourne’s end for another Tigers two before a pair of Greer free throws handed the hosts a comfortable three-quarter time lead (65-46).
A dominant final term from Johnson made sure Cairns suffered the huge loss.
Melbourne (6-12) faces Wollongong at the State Netball Hockey Centre on Friday while Cairns (9-12) hosts Gold Coast next week in a Queensland derby.
Melbourne Tigers 87 (Greer 16, Johnson 14, Hodge 13)
Cairns Taipans 64 (Crosswhite 15, Mills 15, Boodnikoff 10)
@ State Netball Hockey Centre, 2/1/2010. Crowd: 2,857
