Tall Blacks, Tall Ferns fall short in Adelaide
- NZ Sports Wire
- May 8
- 4 min read
Both New Zealand basketball teams have fallen short in the opening games of the Trans-Tasman Throwdown in Adelaide.
The Tall Blacks started strong but faded, scoring just 26 points in the second half of an 80-68 loss to the Australia Boomers at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Wednesday night, while the Tall Ferns were outplayed in an 88-70 loss to the Australia Opals.
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Back-to-back and-ones from Reuben Te Rangi and Shea Ili gave the Tall Blacks the early jump on their Australian counterparts, with a quick six-point lead before Boomers head coach Dean Vickerman called time.
A slight pause in Tall Blacks scoring followed as the Boomers found their feet, until captain Te Rangi dropped five straight for the Kiwis.
Dejan Vasilijevic began to put together some nice jumpers, and again cut the Tall Blacks lead, but the experience of the Tall Blacks shone through – Tohi Smith-Milner with a nice drive to the bucket for two to finish the quarter, with Tall Blacks ahead 27-23.
As he finished the first, Vasilijevic started the second with a triple, before a Angus Glover bucket gave Australia the lead.
The experienced trio of Ili, Smith-Milner and Te Rangi once again steadied the ship for the Tall Blacks. The trio combined for a 31 first-half points to lead the New Zealanders to a 42-37 lead at the main break.
After the initial flurry of third-quarter points, a fairly non-eventful three-minute period took place where both sides struggled to tick the scoreboard over before Boomers skipper Mitch Norton finally broke the deadlock to give the Australians a one-point lead.
Vasilijevic found his stroke again, knocking down a triple to extend the home side’s lead to six, before Glover tickled the twine from long-range to give them a 60-51 lead at the end of three.
The Tall Blacks’ struggles from the field continued in the fourth quarter. Boomers seven-footer Harry Wessels made some big buckets on the low block to help extend their lead, ballooning to double-digits. NBL1 standout, Elijah Pepper, continued his hot-form, drilling a few late triples to bury the Tall Blacks.
A nice flurry of highlights from international debutant Carlin Davison pulled it back to 12-points and gave the Tall Blacks some respectability.
The Tall Blacks shot a horrible 24-of-74 (32 percent) from the field and 6-of-28 (21 percent) on three-point attempts.
Australian Boomers 80 (Dejan Vasilijevic 23, Elijah Pepper 16, Angus Glover 10) Tall Blacks 68 (Reuben Te Rangi 15, Shea Ili 12, Carlin Davison 11). 1Q: 23-27, HT: 37-42, 3Q: 60-51
In the first match-up of the night, there was early excitement for the Tall Ferns as debutant Ella Brow got handed the start by new head coach Natalie Hurst.
Sharne Robati started proceedings with back-to-back triples, before another triple found the bottom of the net from McKenna Dale. The Opals had an answer for each triple, to start the ‘Triple T’ with a bang.
Towards the end of the first period, the Opals put their foot on the gas to try to extend their small lead, and got up by five before Coach Hurst took her first timeout, with the score at 19-14.
Unfortunately for the Tall Ferns, the Opals continued to push the pace and they would open up a double-digit lead heading into the quarter-break, 27-17, despite 10 first quarter points from Robati. Miela Sowah was the leading scorer for the Opals, with 10 points off the bench.
A Steph Reid lay-up in the early stages of the second quarter opened up a 15-point Opals lead, as the Tall Ferns looked to wrestle momentum back their way.
With bodies flying all over the floor and plenty of hustle from the younger Kiwis, saw them slowly chip into the deficit. A 10-5 run, the way of the Ferns to close out the quarter saw them reduce to lead to single figures with a big second half effort needed to best the old foe.
Whatever was said by coach Hurst at the break, did the trick. After Dale opened up the scoring in the third with another triple, and a pair of Ella Brow free throws, Pahlyss Hokianga scored five straight for the visitors as they cut the lead to five.
Alexandra Fowler would go on a little mini-run of her own for the Australian’s to extend the lead back out to 14, just before Tegan Graham, Ashlee Strawbridge and Ella Brow knocked down triples. Suddenly the Tall Ferns were back within four, and that was the margin heading into the final period of play, 61-57 – advantage Opals.
To begin the final period, the Opals looked to extend their lead yet again, as Alexandra Sharp and Courtney Woods dropped back-to-back buckets. However, yet again, the resilient Tall Ferns answered back. Bailey Flavell and Tegan Graham drained triples, meant it was just a one possession game.
Much as the nature of this back-and-forth battle, Australia’s sharpshooter, Miela Sowah, drilled a triple knocked down her third and fourth triples of the evening to put the Opals out by double digits with just over three minutes to go.
The Opals would finish with a strong 12-2 run in the last minutes of the quarter, running out 88-70 winners over a valiant Tall Ferns side.
Australian Opals 88 (Miela Sowah 23, Alexandra Fowler 12, Courtney Woods 11) Tall Ferns 70 (Sharne Robati 19, Pahlyss Hokianga 10). 1Q: 27-17, HT: 39-30, 3Q: 61-57
