BASKETBALL: IT certainly was not a conventional game of basketball, but the Yowies 79 to 59 win over the Wagga Blaze extends their undefeated run and cements top spot in the Waratah League Championship, three wins clear of second-placed Bathurst.
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Tempers flared before the game had even started as Wagga coach Michael McPherson claimed Yowies key centre Kristen Langhorn was ineligible to suit up for Queanbeyan after playing for Canberra in the SEABL.
After deliberation with the umpires it was confirmed the two leagues were seperate and Langhorn was allowed to play.
The Yowies clash was a must-win for the Blaze who sit at sixth place on the ladder, but despite a slow start from the home team it was a Yowies domination.
Wagga were aggressive and the game got out of hand early with tempers flaring- shooting from the Yowies took a bit to get going, but Langhorn's 12-point quarter carried them through to a six-point lead at the first break.
Both sides made avoidable mistakes in the second quarter and play got scrappier and scrappier, but the Yowies came together, struggled through and extended their lead to 16 points at halftime.
The Blaze came back strong in the third quarter, but a couple of calls went against them and the umpires received a great deal of abuse from the frustrated Wagga outfit, coach McPherson included.
The umpires responded to poor sportsmanship for Wagga with a total of six tech fouls throughout the game, three in the dying minutes of the game, ejecting Dre'Shonda Williams from the stadium.
The Yowies sprinted to the finish with a 36-point second half to run out eventual winners by 20 points, but coach Chris Higgisson said the match left a bad taste in her mouth.
"We came away with the win, but it was just ugly," she said.
"I thought [Wagga] were playing for fouls and that's not the spirit of how we want to play.
"It was good that we didn't fall into that though- we played our own game and stayed out of it."
Other than Langhorn's superb performance Yowies forward Olivia Simpson showed grit and determination to help them over the line and Teagan Ketles was a welcomed addition, back from US College basketball, Higgisson said.
Queanbeyan travel to Goulburn on Saturday, May 30 to take on the struggling Bears.