May 14: Hobart Chargers 112 (B. Polk 28, C. Long 20, A. Stewart 19) defeated St Laurence Geelong Supercats 91 (N. Herbert 26, B. Cox 19, J. Bullock 17) at the Aurora Stadium, Hobart

May 15: St Laurence Geelong Supercats 113 (I. Muhammad 31, J. Medved 19, N. Herbert 19) defeated North West Tasmania Thunder 100 (J. Dowdell 26, B. Armstrong 23, S. Gary 21) at Ulverstone Sports and Entertainment Centre.

The St Laurence Geelong Supercats have split their 2 game weekend in Tasmania losing to the Hobart Chargers at Aurora Stadium in Hobart on Friday night before defeating North West Tasmania at Ulverstone on Saturday night.

On Friday night the Supercats started the evening well with three pointers from Nathan Herbert, Braith Cox and a couple from J’Nathan Bullock helping the side out to an early 8 point lead but forward Brandon Polk and veteran playing coach Anthony Stewart responded for the home side taking the lead and holding on to a 3 point advantage at quarter time.

The second quarter went basket for basket with the Chargers pulling away and then the Supercats reeling them back. The lead changed 5 times as Hobart took a nine point advantage and then timely threes from Jamie Medved and Isma’il Muhammad let the Supercats get back in the match. Both sides ended up scoring 27 for the term.

With Seb Loader again unavailable due to an ankle injury, the Chargers pressed their height advantage in the third quarter and steadily built on their lead. With Muhammad having a relatively quiet night, Geelong was held to 21 points for the term while Hobart added 33. The home side held a 15 point advantage at the final break 87-72.

Herbert opened the scoring in the last quarter as he continued to be the Supercats scoring weapon as the imports were closely guarded. With Polk, Stewart and import Chuck Long maintaining the scoreboard pressure for the home side, the Supercats stayed with Hobart for the first three minutes of the last before Hobart put the result beyond doubt with a nine to nil run in the next 2 minutes to have a 23 point advantage with five minutes to play. Supercats head coach Jamie O’Loughlin had seen enough substituting his starters out for the remainder of the game. While the lead blew out to as many as 27, the final result was Geelong 91, Hobart 112.

Herbert finished with 26 points for Geelong, while Cox had another solid performance with 19 and Bullock finished with 17. Polk led all scorers with 28 for Hobart.

The Supercats travelled up to Ulverstone on Saturday night to play North West Tasmania at their new stadium. Jamie Medved was elevated to the starting five with O’Loughlin looking for an up-tempo game from the small travelling squad. The first quarter went basket for basket with Herbert and Medved each scoring three pointers. Jeff Dowdell was leading the scoring for the home team as there was less than 4 points between the teams for the entire quarter. When the buzzer sounded they were locked together at 32 points each.

Herbert and Medved continued to pile on the points in the second quarter and joined by Muhammad and Cox the Supercats added 23 points to4 in the first six minutes of the quarter to take a 19 point advantage. The home side was not to be outdone, with veteran Ben Armstrong, Dowdell and import Sawntes Gary combining to hold the Supercats to just 6 points for the rest of the quarter while adding 20 of their own to be just five points down, 61 to 56, at the half.

The third term was again owned by the Supercats, Medved increased his 3 point successes to 5 and bench guard Keith Harrison chimed in with a couple of threes as well as the Supercats steadily built their lead back to 18 points at the last break. Cox and Herbert continued to score well.

North West struck back at the beginning of the last quarter bringing the margin back to 10 with the Supercats unable to add to their score for the first three minutes. Bullock was substituted back in and his six final quarter points combined with Muhammad’s 8 for the term, kept the home side at bay for the remainder of the game. The Supercats ran out winners 113 to 100.

Muhammad finished the game with 31 points and 13 rebounds to average 24 points for the weekend. Medved relished the starting opportunity and finished with 19 points as did Herbert. Cox has 18 points to cap off a great weekend for the captain and Bullock had 16. Dowdell fouled out early in the last quarter but still managed the top score of 26 for the Thunder.

The Supercats return to the Arena at 7:30 next Saturday night to take on the Bendigo Braves.

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