THE Horsham Hornets were confronted with a determined Castlemaine Cannons outfit in Horsham on Sunday as the home team came away with a 20-point victory.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Cannons, who have only won two games this season, took it to the ladder leading Hornets in a scrappy first half.
Castlemaine had the better of the first quarter in what shaped up to be a physical contest from the outset.
The Hornets were frustrated with a host of contentious refereeing decisions as it became clear Castlemaine were not going to be intimidated by their opponents.
The Cannons took a handy 16-20 lead heading into the first break.
Castlemaine continued their good start to the game in the second quarter, opening up a nine point lead.
Horsham then fired up and were keen to show the home crowd why they sit top of the North West table.
They quickly levelled the score at 31 apiece, with a Tim Pickert three pointer on the buzzer giving the Hornets a 41-34 lead at the half-time break.
Castlemaine matched the Hornets’ pace in the third quarter, largely thanks to 203cm tall centre Cameron Deveraux.
Deveraux scored 11 points in the third quarter to help keep the Hornets at bay.
Horsham maintained their lead and were up by eight points heading into a tense final quarter.
The final term belonged to the Hornets as their lead never looked threatened by a tired Castlemaine side.
Horsham quickly scored the last 13 points of the game to win 89-69.
Tim Pickert was prolific with 28 points for Horsham, while Deveraux finished with 21 points for Castlemaine.
Jeremiah McKenzie put on a strong display, starting plenty of fast breaks for the Hornets and scoring seven points himself.
Coach Cam Bruce said there were a few niggling frustrations during the match.
“There were a few things that didn’t go our way but that’s basketball and you have to deal with what comes your way,” Bruce said.
“We had a tough game Saturday night and to win pretty comfortably in the end against Castlemaine is pretty satisfying. We pulled away but it definitely didn’t feel like a 20-point margin, it was a close game.”
Bruce said Castlemaine’s tall players made it tough for the Hornets’ defence.
“We stuck to our structures and our ball movement wore them down in the end,” he said. “They had a couple of tall players which hurt us a bit on the inside.”
The win was the Hornets’ second of the weekend, after putting away the Maryborough Blazers 89-61 on Saturday night.
The Hornets will now enjoy a break before coming up against the Kyneton Tigers on January 13 in Horsham.
