NBL1: Ringwood Hawks honour 1999 state champions with stirring win over North-West Tasmania Thunder
With his Hawks down at halftime, coach Ken Harrington told his side a tale of courage and determination from 20 years ago
Local Sport
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On Saturday night, the Ringwood Hawks celebrated the 20th anniversary of the 1999 Hawks team that won the club’s first ever senior state championship.
And the current crop of Hawks found a special, and unexpected, way to honour that team with a magnificent second half against the North-West Tasmania Thunder.
The Thunder came to The Rings Stadium determined to grab a win as they still had a chance to grab an NBL1 mens finals berth with just two rounds of the season remaining.
From the tip-off the visitors looked like taking care of the Hawks and quickly built a handsome lead while the Hawks looked out of synch and struggled to make shots.
The game looked like being a disaster for the home crowd and, at quarter-time, the Hawks trailed by 17 points after managing to put just nine points on the board.
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Though the second quarter saw the Hawks gradually having an impact on the game and, despite showing some positive signs, Ringwood still trailed by 17 at halftime.
At the long break, Ringwood needed to make some changes and head coach Ken Harrington and his assistant, Damien Smith, had the perfect story for their team.
“Ironically, we had the 1999 guys in the building and we talked about the guys that year who travelled to Shepparton for a knockout final and fell behind 20-2 in the first quarter,” Harrington said. “Those guys put their head down and increased their intensity and effort and came back for a win that eventually lead to a championship.
“Our boys took that back on the court.”
From the moment the third quarter started the Hawks had a very different look about them.
The confidence started to build and then the defensive intensity came, led by the team’s youngest player, Matthew Roberts.
Roberts was not born when the 1999 team was at its peak but he provided instant impact, scoring nine quick points as well as causing some issues for the Thunder offence.
Adrien Sturt (16 points), Matt Fennell (18 points) and Shaun Clarke also found their range and at three-quarter time the game was all tied-up.
The Hawks had produced their best 10 minutes of basketball for the season.
With the 99 team sitting baseline, the Hawks were not about to let this one slip.
Imports Jacob Gibson and Joey Miller started to provide scoring and also assists to Sturt and Fennell who both looked dangerous.
This game belonged to the Hawks who nailed 33 points in the last quarter and won by 14.
“Really proud of these guys tonight,” team veteran Matt Snow said. “After the season we have had, we could have packed it in at quarter-time and quit.
“We definitely knew those 99 guys were watching closely so we needed to show them something and also give our home fans something to cheer about as it was our last home game this year.”
The Hawks will finish their season next Sunday when they visit the Dandenong Rangers.
RINGWOOD 90 (Fennell 18, Sturt 16, Gibson 16, Miller 15, Roberts 9, Clarke 7, Latham 6, Truman 3) Defeated NORTH-WEST TASMANIA THUNDER 76 (Banyard 22, Bowling 15) at The Rings Stadium.
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