Armstrong triple-double secures derby win

The Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans have a tendency to save the best for last, and their final home game for the 2024-25 season was no exception, with another solid win over the Brisbane Bullets, 100-88 on Thursday night.

With Rob Edwards the main Taipan missing from battle, Cairns faced a depleted Brisbane lineup with seven players missing from action – including James Batemon, Jarred Bairstow, Rocco Zikarsky and Tyrell Harrison.

Catching fire early, Tanner Groves drilled repeated triples to open Cairns’ night 6-0 before the Bullets were able to reply with their own shot from deep.

Whilst Brisbane struggled to score consistently – relying on offensive rebounds to give themselves extra chances – Cairns channelled their Summer Shootout form, hitting five of their first six shots to hold a steady lead.

Reaching 11 points in under six minutes of action, Groves helped grow the lead as the visitors kept their starters on the floor as they searched for ways to efficiently tick the scoreboard over – opposite of the Taipans who rotated all their starters off the court.

As both teams returned to action for the second quarter, the 10 starters returned to the court with the locals holding a six-point margin – a deficit that was quickly reduced by the Bullets.

Trading blow for blow, Brisbane narrowed the gap down to a single point before Alex Higgins-Titsha stepped up defensively to block two shots in under a minute as the Taipans steadily rebuilt their lead.

Stretching the deficit out to seven points, the visitors were quick to respond – calling a timeout to address the margin before Callum Dalton drew repeated fouls to start a 6-0 run solely from the free throw line.

Whilst the Bullet’s concussion replacement pulled the margin back to a single point, Cairns’ forwards looked to use their size advantage to tick the scoreboard over, however Dalton continued to go to work – scoring all of Brisbane’s points to erase the lead.

Entering the changerooms at the main break locked at 48 apiece, the locals continued to maintain their shooting dominance – led by Groves who had shot 75% across the first half from eight attempts – but holding the edge on the glass, the Bullets were able to utilise their extra shots to keep the game tied.

Flipping the script when play resumed, Keandre Cook drained a quick triple to grab the Bullet’s first lead of the night, before Cairns fed off their home crowd to push themselves ahead again.

Leading the charge, Sam Waardenburg set the tone at both ends of the floor – poking the ball out on the defensive end and slamming home dunks at the other end – with Taran Armstrong consistently feeding the forward as they looked to control the game.

However, unable to stretch the margin past six digits, the Bullets quickly reeled the deficit back, with the contest set to return to its tied status when the third term came to a close before Kyrin Galloway was able to beat the buzzer and return the lead to Cairns.

With the game in the balance, Kyle Adnam showed his experience to keep his composure and nail a triple to open their account – sparking a 11-2 opening to the quarter for the home side.

Responding from range, Brisbane drilled repeated shots from behind the arc to limit the damage, however they were not able to contain the Taipans who quickly broke free.

Closing on a 12-4 run, Cairns ended the final home game of the season with a win against their Queensland rivals, with Taran Armstrong securing the first triple-double this season across the league and the first of his career with 13 seconds left on the clock.

Wrapping up with 28 points, 10 boards, 10 assists and a steal, the NBA-bound guard was assisted by Sam Waardenburg also had a strong night. Despite only having two points to his name at half time, the forward ended with 23 points at 75% – perfect from 12 shots inside the arc, including four free throws – whilst also pulling down 7 rebounds, providing 2 dimes, and 2 steals.

In just over 21 minutes of action due to foul trouble, Tanner Groves was still able to contribute 15 points, with three boards, an assist and a block, whilst Pedro Bradshaw put up 14 points, four boards, four assists and a block.

“The fans are super deserving – it’s obviously been difficult, but to finish it off the right way is really important,” said Taipans guard Taran Armstrong.

“You never know what guys you’re going to play with again, so for me a big part was just playing with these boys again. We last played with Rob last week, and I was a little emotional after the game with everything coming to an end, so for me a big motivator was just getting to share the floor with these guys again.

“I thought I just played the same way without Rob – I felt like Waardenburg and I had a good thing going, and I was quite deliberate with him to get him into actions. We scored off it one time, and went ‘alright, we’re doing the same thing the next three times’, and they were having trouble guarding it.”

“This is just a snapshot of what he’s been capable of doing all season. Random little injuries have not just derailed Taran’s season but a few other guys as well, and so it’s really cool seeing again what Taran’s capable of,” said Taipans Head Coach Adam Forde.

“There are a lot of guys that like to talk about being in the gym, and they’ll post it, and they’ll talk about it and how they work hard, but they don’t do that – they’ll only say it. Taran does it, he doesn’t hype it up and he just chips away at it as it is a daily process.

“I knew I had to call a timeout when the momentum swung against us a little bit, but what I really wanted to do was just keep running – I knew Brisbane was short-handed, I knew they’d already burned two timeouts – and I thought we could just run them out of the gym.”

The Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans will now fly south to face the Tasmania JackJumpers for their final game of the campaign. Memberships for the 2025-26 season are now on sale, with early bird prices lasting until March 31, 2025 - purchase online or at Taipans HQ.