Cairns Marlins’ epic start to state basketball title campaign
The Cairns Marlins took the first step towards their goal of a semi-final berth with a crushing 81-30 win over rivals Townsville Heat in the opening round of the Under-14 Boys Division 1 State Championships in Cairns.
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The Cairns Marlins took the first step towards their goal of a semi-final berth with a crushing 81-30 win over rivals Townsville Heat in the opening round of the Under-14 Boys Division 1 State Championships in Cairns.
A blistering first quarter saw the home side jump out to a 24-8 lead at the first break, and the Marlins maintained the momentum for the rest of the match as they piled on 57 points to the Heat’s 22 in the last three quarters.
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“We always try to start well, especially our first game,” said coach Brett Toombs.
“It’s about trying to get the other guys in as well so everyone plays in that first game to give them some confidence.
“It was good I was able to play everyone to get them some early minutes.”
He said it was the start the side needed as it sets sights on a semi-final berth.
“Our first aim is to finish top two in our pool and that will give us a semi-final, and then hopefully we go from there,” he said.
“But certainly we are aiming for the semi and we’ll see how good we are then.”
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Sean O’Reilly led the way for the Marlins with 24 points, followed by Ben Acoom with 16 points, while Ben Dempsey (11 points) and Noah Kirk (10 points) also put up double digits. But Toombs said the win was built on the side’s defence.
“We spoke a lot about our defensive intensity before the game,” he said.
“I think we’re a team that, once we get our defence right in intensity, our offence flows from that, so the big talk was just about making sure that we contain the player, force the other team for one shot and then we just want to get that ball and run.
“We’re a real up-tempo team and that’s something we tried to do today.”
Heat coach John O’Farrell said the Marlins suffocated his side with their defensive pressure.
“We played Cairns at a QNJBC a few weeks ago, so we knew they were going to be pretty athletic and fairly quick,” he said.
“Their ability to restrict us to not very much makes it difficult for us to even get into a trading situation.”
He said he was impressed with his side’s toughness despite the lopsided scoreline.
“They’re young so the expectation is they’ve just got to learn,” he said.
“It’s a bit of a grind and sometimes you’re going to get beat up, but you’ve got to roll with the punches — you’ve got to show some resilience.”
Cairns’s next game will be against the Brisbane Capitals at 8am on Friday.
“The hard thing with being in North Queensland is you don’t know much about teams from down south, so it’s about me coming down to the stadium and getting some scout,” Toombs said.
“They’re always skilful, and they’re big teams as well. We’ve just got to make sure we’re defending the big guys well, especially their post players, but it’s going to be a tough game.”
Originally published as Cairns Marlins’ epic start to state basketball title campaign