The Perth Wildcats have started the 2011/12 iiNet NBL Championship season in ominous form with a 102-69 thumping of the Adelaide 36ers at Arena Adelaide with Shawn Redhage knocking down six three-pointers in his return to the league in what was his 200th appearance.
Redhage finished his first NBL regular season match back from fracturing and dislocating his hip on the very same Adelaide court with a game-high 26 points with an incredible 6-of-9 from beyond the three-point line.
It was the ideal way for him to return and to celebrate his 200th game, but he was far from the only star for the Wildcats in the season-opener that saw them run out 33-point victors against the 36ers.
Redhage was delighted not only with the way he started to feel in a groove once his first shot fell, but with how the whole team performed against an Adelaide team that did knock off the Wildcats three times last season.
"It was a great team effort. We came out and played pretty well, and were disappointed last year to start in Adelaide with a poor showing in the first game, so we wanted to make amends," Redhage said.
"I just got open a few times and all it takes is one shot to go down to get my confidence. I was struggling in that first quarter, but then got one to go down and it's amazing what that can do for you. If they are going to leave me open, then I'll shoot. I'm never going to second guess myself.
"It helped to play some pre-season games. I played eight of them and I think that really helped to get my confidence. To now have the first regular season game done is a great feeling especially here in Adelaide where it ended for me last season."
Kevin Lisch put in a tremendous showing as well nailing all three of his attempts from beyond the arc to finish with 23 points and six assists. Jesse Wagstaff had a big night to end up with 22 points and six rebounds. He also nailed two bombs from long range.
Co-captain Brad Robbins hit nine points and pulled in four rebounds as well with Cam Tovey also scoring nine while pulling in five boards as well.
Sharpshooter Drew Williamson hit two threes also to finish with six points and Damian Martin had another strong all-round game with three points, six boards, five assists and two steals. Luke Nevill hit two points as did Jeremiah Trueman while Greg Hire pulled in five rebounds for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats shot an impressive 49 per cent from the field but the three-point shooting was remarkable with the team nailing 14-of-25 at 56 per cent.
Sixers' import Chris Warren top-scored for his team with 17 points with Daniel Johnson nailing 15, Nathan Crosswell 10 and ex-Wildcat Stephen Weigh nine.
Wildcats coach Rob Beveridge was understandably delighted with the performance of his team to start the season, but isn’t getting ahead of himself given there are 27 games to go.
"We were actually quite toey coming into the game because we have had a few issues with Adelaide in the past, but our guys were very focused and that showed out there," Beveridge said.
"I'm happy with where we were at, but there were areas tonight that I wasn’t happy with so we have plenty of room for improvement still.
"I think we are in good shape. We have stability and are ahead of teams right now because we have been together a while. This Adelaide group is a new one with new players, injuries and an import to come in. I wouldn’t read too much into this for Adelaide, but we are in great shape at the moment."
Despite Lisch starting the game for the Wildcats with a strong three-point play, much of the first quarter was an even affair with the 'Cats ending up leading just 27-24 after Weigh hit a late three for the 36ers.
However, the Wildcats put their foot down with the first nine points of the second period. Then with Wagstaff scoring seven quick points consecutively and Tovey nailing a massive three on the half-time buzzer, the 'Cats took a comfortable 14-point lead going into the main break.
It was all the 'Cats in the second half with the lead never dropping below double-figures and then extending to 33 by the final buzzer.
The third quarter saw the Wildcats unleash a three-point barrage with three in-a-row to Redhage (two) and Lisch, and then Wagstaff and Williamson nailed two more late to extend the three quarter-time lead to 27.
Redhage nailed three more bombs from long range in the last quarter to cap off his remarkable night and the 'Cats cruised to the big victory.
The Wildcats now return to Perth to take on Patty Mills and the Melbourne Tigers on Friday night at Challenge Stadium.
Perth Wildcats 102 (Shawn Redhage 26, Kevin Lisch 23, Jesse Wagstaff 22)
defeated
Adelaide 36ers 69 (Chris Warren 17, Daniel Johnson 15, Nathan Crosswell 10)
Box scores
