The Tiger teams faced the Lightning on their home deck on Saturday night, with two entertaining games that ended with a split result for the Tigers.
The girls game was a tight affair from the beginning, with only a one point differential at quarter time. Lubcke, Winter and Sharp got the Tigers going in the second quarter offensively, and the team got out to a 3 point lead at the half.
The third term proved to be as much of an arm wrestle as the first half, with 4 lead changes, and the margin not getting beyond single figures. Caitlyn Jones was influential in the third quarter with 7 points.
Hayley Winter continued her sharp shooting with a couple of big baskets for the term. The offensive rebounding efforts of Foster, Sharp and Hepburn led to some crucial second chance points for the Tigers.
The Tigers started the fourth quarter down by 1 point, but quickly took the lead back with a layup by Alex Sharp. The teams then traded blows as Winter and Foster both hit 3’s, and the Lightning went inside to Hamblin.
The lead continued to change a further 4 times in the final quarter, as the Lightning exploited Hamblin’s dominance in the paint, and Jones hit a big 3 with just a minute remaining to put the Lightning up by 1.
The Tigers were unable to score in the final minute and Ruby Benn for Lightning made 4/4 free throws to seal Lakeside’s victory by 5 points.
The Tigers missed veteran guard Emma Gandini, but will look to bounce back against the Cougars next weekend in their final regular season game before they head into finals.
Alex Sharp had another double double with 15 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists. Hayley Winter had 12 points 7 rebounds and 2 assists, and Sam Lubcke had an impressive 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists.
The Tiger men got out to an 11-0 lead in the first 3 minutes of the game, however Lightning were always going to strike back, and they answered the call with a 6-0 scoring run in the following 2 minutes.
The Tigers continued to get good looks, but Palleschi was proving to be a problem with 15 points in the quarter.
A stronger quarter from the Tigers gave them an 8 point lead going into half time, with a great spread of scorers.
The third quarter continued in the same fashion, with a good spread of scorers from the Tigers, and some great defensive sets to help extend their lead to as much as 18 points in the quarter.
The Lightning once again responded, cutting the lead to 12 at 3 quarter time.
Lakeside continued to surge at the start of the fourth quarter, getting within 4 points of the Tigers with 1 minute to go.
A great take by Travis Fee took the lead back out to 6 points, and some steadying free throws by Damien Scott secured the win for the men, with a final winning margin of 4 points.
Lachie Evans had a great game off the bench with some streak shooting seeing him score 11 points, along with 2 rebounds and 2 assists.
Damien Scott came up big with 21 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals. Tom Gerovich had another strong game with 12 points, and 12 rebounds, along with an impressive 4 assists.
The Tigers had 5 players in double figures, with a total of 10 players hitting the scoresheet. An impressive team effort from the men!
Our final regular season game will be at Wally Hagan Stadium Friday 12 August where we are up against the Cougars. Get down and cheer on your Tiger teams!
Photo Gallery
Thanks to June Halliday for the game photos, please see below for the full albums.
For the women vs Lightning album click here
For the men vs Lightning album click here
