Suns go down as shots off targets

It was a long trip back to Whangarei in the Northland Suns team van following a dismal 110-66 loss to Counties Manukau at Breakers Stadium.

After a narrow round two loss to Auckland last weekend in the Super City Basketball Competition, the Suns were unable to put together a 40-minute performance on Saturday, against a talent-infused Counties contingent.

Poor defence and a bad shooting day put the Suns on the back foot early in the game, and things did not improve.

"It was a very frustrating game. The effort was there, we were attempting baskets, but our shots were not dropping. Counties were a good squad and we just let them get away with whatever they wanted to," Suns shooting guard Travis McIlroy said.

The team struggled without the support of their skipper Aaron Saddler, and coach Tania Siteine, who were unavailable to travel to the North Shore for the game.

But Warrick Siddall stepped up and put in a solid effort, top scoring with 23 points, as well as getting four blocks, and 12 rebounds. Tolu Hetaraka maintained his positive outlook throughout the game, and is proving to be a leader in the Suns outfit, while Casey Namana was impressive on offence.

"It was a long trip back in the van and there was a lot of talk about how we can start winning games, but I still believe in this team despite not having a win under our belt yet," McIlroy said.

So, it is back to the drawing board for the Suns, who play the Breakers Academy team on Saturday at Breakers Stadium.

"We will be wiping the slate clean, with the main focus on defence this week at training," McIlroy said.

The Suns tip off against the Breakers at 1pm on Saturday.