The Northland Suns showed they are peaking at the right time with a big 108-77 win over the touring Parramatta Wildcats.
With their Intercity League semifinal against the Harbour Heat on Saturday in the back of their minds, the Suns were in red hot form against the youthful touring teamon Monday evening.
Two of the team's stars, BJ Anthony and Ray Cameron, played their first home games for the team and Anthony, in particular, was unstoppable. He top-scored with 32 points and had a busy night on the boards with 10 defensive and four offensive rebounds.
Travis McIlroy was also among the points, scoring 29 as well as a couple of spectacular dunks in front of an admiring home crowd at the Kamo High School gym.
McIlroy said the game was a great build-up for the semifinal against the Heat with the Suns trying to test their defence, which he say still needs work.
"It was exactly what we needed, Parramatta's attack was quick and pretty intense and we had to adjust and play at their pace but fortunately, we had the weapons to dominate the game," he said.
He said once the team settled down, there was never any question of losing control of the game.
"In the fourth quarter, the coach emptied the bench and gave some of our younger players some quality game time and the starting players cheered them on from the bench," he said.
McIlroy said the big win had given the team confidence for Saturday's match against Harbour. The two teams met way back in the second round of the competition with Harbour winning by 10 points but McIlroy said the team has changed considerably since then. "We've grown so much since then; we're a completely different team and the boys are ready to take this all the way to the final," he said.
The Harbour Heat play the touring Parramatta team tonight and the Suns will await the result with some interest. The two teams meet at the AUT North Shore campus on Saturday. In the curtain raiser on Monday, the Wildcats' women beat a Tai Tokerau selection 61-60 in a much closer match.
