High flyers Ansett keep top two hopes alive with handy win over Palmerston Power in Round 19

ANSETT’S Fred Williams was encouraged by his side’s full-court effort which saw it surpass Palmerston Power 103-78 and keep alive its hopes of a Darwin Basketball top-two finish.

Ansett’s Fred Williams scored 32 points in his team’s win over Palmerston. Picture: Glenn Campbell

ANSETT’S Fred Williams was encouraged by his side’s full-court effort which saw it surpass Palmerston Power 103-78 and keep alive its hopes of a Darwin Basketball top-two finish.

Ansett came out with intensity, looking to rush Power off the court and rack up a quick score winning the opening quarter 34-16 with Williams (32 points) and James Toohey (24) topping the scoring.

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Freddy Webb (21 points) and Henry Bui (10) also added contributions early on, Matty Hunt disrupting Palmerston’s flow with crucial intercepts.

Palmerston found a foothold in the second quarter as it stepped up to match the pace of its adversaries, with Tom Godwin (18 points) and Aaron Simpson (17) in the scoring.

However, any brief respite was countered by the depth of the Ansett bench with juniors Kane Toohey and Anthony Rowse both taking spending significant time on the court.

With the win Ansett players set up themselves for a big game against Tracy Village Jets next week, the winner likely to take out second place heading into finals.

Eagles currently hold first spot.

“This is the time of year where we really want to be playing our best brand of basketball and this is a step in the right direction,” Williams told the NT News.

“Palmerston are a good club that pushed us really hard so it gave us a chance to play a competitive team going into the next round and finals.

“Our speed and our full court pressure gave them some tired legs near the end and we had a lot of guys making shots including our juniors.

“That top two spot is important with a chance at an automatic trip to the final so we really want to see Eagles in that first round but we have to take care of business against Jets next week first.

“We just need to get our foot in. Once we get our full team together and get what we’re good at working we can beat any team in the competition.”

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Meanwhile in women’s league action, Essington Cannons pulled off a big 93-29 win over Razzle to keep themselves in the fight for a top-four finish.