Ansett showed its strength in youth with the sides young stars stepping up in the win over Palmerston Power

ANSETT’S depth shone through in a heated 101-81 win over fellow top side Palmerston Power in Round 5 of the Darwin Basketball League.

Ansett young gun Anthony Rowse was one of the standouts in the match up against Palmerston. Picture: Glenn Campbell

ANSETT’S depth shone through in a heated 101-81 win over fellow top side Palmerston Power in Round 5 of Darwin Basketball action.

It was Power who started with the upper hand, getting quick baskets off rebounds through Pat Golong (seven points), Jesse Bell (15 points) and Tom Godwin (10 points).

But Ansett was never out of the contest, with Josh Turner (five points) and Henry Bui (seven points) chipping away, while Matty Hunt (19 points) also found his mark.

MORE NT SPORT STORIES

Star Ansett guard Josh Turner now aspiring for an NBL1 roster sport after cutting short US college career at Jamestown College

Ellas Titans eyeing a return to the top ahead of Darwin Basketball League encounter against Lightning

Ansett coach Steve Toohey says local young guns are stepping up in absences of Freddy Webb, Fred Williams and James Toohey

Turner came off the floor with concussion in the second quarter, and with Lachlan Shipway and Cam Duncan already missing the contest Ansett turned to their youth.

Palmerston had their own losses with Golong forced to depart through injury, while Godwin, Bell and David Miles all fouled out.

Shaquille Hohipa-Wilson (24 points) remained as a major danger man for the Palmerston outfit, finding the net through the inside.

But Ansett’s depth shone through, with every player getting points on the board and the junior duo of Anthony Rowse (21 points) and Kane Toohey (15 points) standing out in particular.

Those two, alongside fellow youngsters Lucas Duncan, Hayden Brauer and Sol McInerney, all made their mark and were able to lead their side in the final quarter.

“It was good. We backed ourselves to get the win even if others didn’t considering we were missing a few players,” Hunt told the NT News.

“Our squad runs pretty deep with our youth who we lean on when players are out and they stepped up again.

“We mixed up our defence but also our offence showed where we shared the ball around a lot. There were plenty of assists and we hit shots.

“We had our five young fellas on for the final five minutes where the average age was about 16 or 17, and they kept the lead and even pushed it.”

And although they have plenty to be happy about, Hunt insisted there was still a heavy focus on getting better each week, particularly on rebounds.

“Focus on rebounds is huge because over the past two years we have sucked at rebounding,” Hunt said.

“It’s one thing that has really cost us and shows that we’re not where we want to be defensively.

“We just need to keep getting better and continue to mesh as a group with guys coming in and out through injury or commitments.”

Meanwhile, Eagles (Will Tollner 18 points) beat Tracy Village Jets (Dante Ah Sam 18 points) 76-73.