Breakers outmuscle Wildcats

Mika Vukona took one on the chops from Andre Brown following a scuffle and Paul Henare found himself free-falling towards a hoarding.
But Gary Wilkinson, hanging tough on the rim, CJ Bruton, Thomas Abercrombie and Henare epitomised the New Zealand Breakers' court-savvy fighting spirit to absorb everything the Perth Wildcats threw at them last night to book their first finals in the Australian National Basketball League (ANBL).
"One thing we spoke about is the physicality and the Wildcats are experts at that, so we had them up for it," guard Henare, of Hawke's Bay, said last night after the 2010-11 ANBL premier champions beat defending champions Perth 99-83 in Auckland.
"It [the physicality] was more than what we've had in the whole series, but you had a situation where both teams were playing for their lives," said Henare, who keeps his title dreams alive for a fairytale ending to his swansong season for the Breakers as the only foundation member still gracing the court with total allegiance.
The Breakers are now three games away from breaking the Australian hoodoo as the only New Zealand franchise in any code to become the first professional team to etch their names on Australian silverware.
By the time the bustling Breakers finished with the Wildcats at the North Shore Events Centre last night the Wildcats were left licking their ruffled fur and purring like domiciled pussy cats.
Their progression to the final again made a mockery of the ANBL awards last week that largely ignored Breakers nominees on a tit-for-tat reaction to a snub from the Kiwis and Perth to attend the ceremony in Melbourne on account of not having ample time to prepare for the play-offs in a space of three days.
The horde of Hawke's Bay fans glued to their TV here had an agenda of their own from last night's victory.
The Breakers' victory means the HBS Bank Hawks will relish their Bartercard National Basketball League (NBL) round-four, away match against the Waikato Pistons at the Stadium Rotorua on Sunday, April 24.
The Hawks will be without the services of player/rookie coach Henare, but the Pistons will miss the services of five players.
Last night, the visitors claimed the first quarter 25-23 but the hosts fought back for a halftime pep talk with a 52-43 lead.
"They were tight, aggressively taking the ball to the hole," Henare said, adding coach Andrej Lemanis emphasised the need to keep their foot planted firmly on the Wildcats' throats.
"For the best part we did the job because we again beat the defending champions for a place in the final."
The Breakers led 72-61 in the third quarter before the tempestuous final quarter saw some Perth players showing mental frailty.
Two minutes into that spell, Perth import Kevin Lisch brought down Breakers big man Wilkinson with a trip.
Others joined the melee while Vukona wrapped his arms around Wildcat Brown.
After a heated verbal exchange, Brown lashed out, clipping the Breakers hardman on the jaw. The officials pointed Brown towards the changing rooms for an early shower amid pointing and vociferous chanting of: "Off, off, off!"
Wilkinson top-scored with 20 for the Breakers, with Kirk Penney contributing 18 and Bruton 17.
The end-to-end court display epitomised everything testosterone-filled elite basketball play-offs promise.
"CJ eventually showed his class tonight after we watched with bated breath," Henare said before lauding every player for the Breakers' "best performance of the year", but qualifying they hadn't peaked yet.
"Game one [which they lost 101-78] woke us up and in games two and three we proved what it takes to win."
He didn't care who the Breakers play in the final as the Townsville Crocodiles play the Cairns Taipan on Sunday in game three to decide who will be the other finalists.
"They both bring different challenges and that's why they finished second and third in the league," said Henare as the Breakers prepare to host game one of the best-of-three, home-and-away finals next Wednesday.
With the NBL tipping off last night and the Hawks playing their opening match in Napier tomorrow, Henare was torn not to be at the Pettigrew-Green Arena, in Taradale.
"It's just a really funny situation being here [Auckland] so focused with the play-offs and at the same time trying to talk to [Hawks assistant coach] Kirstin [Taylor, nee Daly] just about every day.
"I really do want to be there with the team but I know everyone there is behind the Breakers too," said Henare, who will join the Hawks campaign soon after the dust settles in the ANBL finals.