Hunter, Johnson combine for 81 as Mustangs launch offensive blitz

BASKETBALL: A final term explosion has led to the most brilliant quarter in the TBL’s short history.

Mitchell Davis of the Southern Cross Bricklaying Eels. Picture: Kevin Farmer

The Washed on James Mustangs moved into second spot on the ladder after a 125-89 defeat of the Pump 123 Panthers at Clive Berghofer Arena.

Ticking along nicely through the opening three quarters to take an 80-66 lead, the Mustangs broke the shackles in the final term, dropping a league-record 45 points.

JaKobe Hunter and Joseph Johnson combined for 29 in the final term, and a total of 81 in the contest.

Hunter dropped 11 three-pointers on his way to a season-high 44 points, with Johnson adding 37.

“I’m really stoked with our squad. We’ve got 10 guys that can play basketball,” coach Mitch Wormald said.

“It didn’t matter who was on the court, we kept the score ticking over.

“It was great to have our north Queensland import JaKobe drop 11 threes. That was a huge boost.

“JJ always chips in and works his guts out. Our young fellas like Isaac (Wormald) and Ash (Pailthorpe) really stepped up.

“Our defence was good and we always found the right guy in attack.”

Wormald said his approach to coaching was simple.

“My philosophy is to not overcoach them, they know how to play basketball,” he said.

“I’m happy to just finetune little bits and pieces to allow all 10 to play to their potential.

“The last couple of weeks it has been JJ’s night, but they know that it might be theirs next game.

“We’ve been built around playing defence. It’s something that we continually work on and it makes the game easier.”

The Southern Cross Bricklaying Eels remained at the top with a perfect 3-0 record after defeating the Westridge Warriors 91-79.

The Warriors held a slender three-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, before the Eels allowed just 11 points on their way to another win.

Manylok Malek was again in the thick of things, topscoring with 28 points, with Josh Allen finishing with 26.

STANDINGS: Eels (3-0, 126%), Mustangs (2-1, 116%), Warriors (1-2, 93%), Panthers (0-3, 77%)

Originally published as Hunter, Johnson combine for 81 as Mustangs launch offensive blitz