Basketball: Sharks slowly but surely circle hapless Hawks in Napier

Hawks co-skipper Jarrod Kenny deftly slips a pass between Sharks players Luke Aston (left) and import Nick Kay in the NBL match at the PG Arena, Napier, tonight. Photo/Warren Buckland

The Hawks could not follow on from their first victory of the season after losing to the Southland Sharks in Napier tonight.

Coach Kirstin Daly-Taylor's men fought gallantly but came up short, 101-87, when the noise subsided at the Pettigrew-Green Arena, Taradale, in the National Basketball League (NBL) match.

The first quarter had all the hallmarks of a humdinger of a match as the Taylor Corp-sponsored hosts powered to catch up with the visitors before sharing the spoils, 26-all.

The second spell started with a similar momentum as both sides traded baskets.

Referee Yalla Edwards drew a chorus of boos from the PG Arena faithful after pinging newly signed American import centre Amir Williams, who had cleanly swiped the ball of a Sharks player in defence with the score locked at 28-all.

With 5:03 left on the clock in the quarter and the Sharks leading 39-37, a scuffle broke out with players from both sides trying to keep Reuben Te Rangi away from Williams. Coach Judd Flavell benched Te Rangi who continued to let off steam from the bench, much to the crowd's delight.

Sharks captain Duane Bailey got involved in another mini-scuffle with Hawks forward Anamata Haku before the umpires joined the ref to take a few minutes to calm down players as Williams revved up the crowd.

When play resumed, the import centre showed his worth with a rebound on defence before scoring a basket at the other end.

However, the Jarrod Kenny and Everard Bartlett co-skippered side went a little off the boil in rebounding and lost some love from the rim as the Sharks shot ahead 47-42 (25-16).

The halftime statistics showed the Sharks were cleaning up on the boards, 25-18. It also favoured them in the points in the paint, 36-24, and second-chance points, 14-7, although there wasn't much in the points off the bench (17-16 to the visitors).

It was a slow start but despite the passionate input from the Hawks they came out on the wrong side of the ledger, 84-68 (33-26).

For what it was worth, every time Williams was on the floor Flavell benched his Tall Black centre, Alex Pledger, but injected him when the Hawks centre was rested because the two giants cancelled each other out.

The fourth spell went 19-17 to the hosts but the telling factor was Southland's resolve to break the 100-mark.

It seemed the second-quarter feelings were still festering as the game to a halt in the final quarter in the witching time of 1:11 left on the clock.

Williams and Bailey were separated although it was a mismatch for the latter, if the bite of the blokes rather than their growl was anything to by.

Pledger claimed a double-double 21 points and 11 rebounds. Veteran guard Hayden Allen scored 20 points while Te Rangi chimed in with 17 points and seven rebounds.

Australian import power forward Nick Kay came close to a double-double with 11 points and collected nine off the boards. Guard Derone Raukawa added 10 points to the collective.

For the Hawks, South Africa-born import forward Grant Fiorentinos showed why Daly-Taylor made the right decision in retaining him with an equal game-high 21 points.

Williams chimed in with 19 points and eight rebounds while fouled-out Kenny, Bartlett (both 8 and 7 on assists) and Fiji-born Joshua Fox were all 10 or a shade above in points contributed.