Darwin Basketball Association’s Eagles captain David Oates: Wins are leading to soaring belief

THEY started the Darwin Basketball League season slowly, losing their first three games, but now Eagles are flying higher up the ladder. And that has delighted captain David Oates.

Current Eagles captain David Oates (centre) celebrates Eagles’ win over Razzle in the 2019 Challenge Grand Final. Oates has been delighted with his team’s form over the past month. Picture: Glenn Campbell

THEY started the Darwin Basketball League season slowly, losing their first three games, but now Eagles are flying higher up the ladder.

And that has delighted captain David Oates, with his team now in sixth place after winning three of its past four games. The last of those victories was an impressive one last round, beating the fourth-placed Lightning 67-50.

Oates (17 points) and Tully Hemsley (19 points) were among the standouts.

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“We’re starting to put a few wins together and I’ve been very happy with it,” Oates said.

“As a result we’re still a chance of playing in the finals.

“We’ve got a lot of new faces this year, so we’ve had to rely on everyone making some sort of contribution.”

Most pleasing for Oates has been the amount of local Darwin players performing.

Eagles are the reigning champions after a dominant 2020 season saw them lose just two games.

But it was a team which relied heavily on the brilliance of American imports Chris Elder and Joe Jackson.

This year, Darwin juniors Hemsley and Will Tolner – who both came across from Essington – have been highly impressive.

Hemsley is averaging 13.53 points per game, not far behind Tolner (14.38).

“Tully has been really good for us. He’s got a big work ethic and puts his body on the line,” Oates said.

“And Will is one of the better shooters in the league.”

Sean Johnston has been another one to impress, averaging 9.14 points per game and almost 10 rebounds.

“Sean has been killing it,” Oates said. “He’s really solid in defence and gets great offensive rebounds for us.”

Suddenly, Eagles players have a right to back their chances against the ladder-leading Ansett in round 16 action on Friday night.

“They’re the team to beat at the moment, so as always we’ll need everyone to contribute,” Oates said.

Lightning also play Jets on Friday night. Uni v Palmerston and Cannons v Ellas played on Thursday night.

In women’s round 16 action, Rebels face Ansett and Jets take on Lightning in a grand-final rematch on Friday night.