Cairns fall in season opener

The Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans have fallen in their first game of the 2025-26 NBL season, with the South East Melbourne Phoenix sealing a 114-77 win in Melbourne on Saturday night.

As the Taipans hit the court for the first time of their 2025-26 campaign, they were missing Andrew Andrews, Mawot Mag and Sam Waardenburg from their lineup, with Lachlan Barker, Lloyd McVeigh and Jed Richardson joining the squad in Melbourne.

In his first game after his promotion from a development player, Kody Stattmann kicked off the night with an easy layup with both sides struggling to find of the bottom of the basket.

With only four points on the board in the first three minutes of action, the two lineups were only able to contribute via the free throw line for another two minutes before Jack McVeigh found his touch.

As the scoreboard began to tick over, neither lineup could reach more than a basket ahead as they traded blow for blow with the first break quickly approaching.

Opting to work through the paint, South East steadily ticked over the scoreboard consistently with John Brown, Jordan Hunter and Gorjok Gak combining for a deadly trio.

Trying to match them, Admiral Schofield and Reyne Smith launched a series of triples to reduce the margin but were unable to keep up with the Phoenix who quickly raced away.

Building a 24-point lead by the main break, the Victorians continued to stretch their lead when play resumed, before Smith responded after finding his touch.

Draining repeated triples, the former Louisville Cardinal showcased exactly why Cairns had recruited the college star with the guard slowly closing the margin.

Whilst the Tasmanian made his shots, Marcus Lee looked to dominate the paint in the absence of Waardenburg, with the American reaching double-digit rebounds to lead the contest in the stat by the end of the third term.

After his offensive onslaught, Smith took control of the ball which allowed McVeigh to find his spots as he reached double points himself, whilst Schofield found his touch from deep to hold the margin steady.

As the Taipans found their rhythm, the Phoenix were able to hit their shots from deep after struggling in the opening half to keep their visitors from creeping back into the contest.

With the game approaching its end, Cairns took the opportunity to put the two McVeigh’s on the court together with Lachlan Barker also taking the opportunity to hit the hard court.

Seeing four minutes of action, Lloyd McVeigh put up five points alongside his brother who in turn was also increasing his own scoring total.

Closing the night with nine triples in the second half, the Phoenix extended their lead to 37 points by the end of the evening to start their campaign with a win.

In his debut as a Taipan, Reyne Smith led all scorers with 19 points, six rebounds, an assist and a steal, with Jack McVeigh a single digit behind him with 18 points, three boards and three assists. The duo also combined to draw eight fouls across the evening despite not committing one themselves.

Making his own debut in Australia, Admiral Schofield put up 12 points and six boards, with fellow American Marcus Lee being the only player across both lineups to reach a double-double with his 10 points, 12 rebounds, an assist and a block.

Matching his three block performance against the Phoenix last season, Kyrin Galloway also put up three points, two rebounds and an assist, whilst Kody Stattmann reached eight points, five boards and five assists.

Taipans Head Coach Adam Forde:

“Look, that first half really isn't what this team is. We came out of the second half, made some adjustments and we saw what it looked like.
"We still left some points, we missed some bunnies at the rim. So, there's still areas that we need to work on, but that first half isn't a true reflection of where this team is.
"Schofield is a professional. He knows what potential he has and I don't need to baby him through the process. He'll come back better for it, and he's a tough, resilient, physical dude, but also mentally he's really robust."

The Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans now return home ahead of their first home game of the season, when they host the Brisbane Bullets next Friday night. They'll be expecting Andrew Andrews and Mawot Mag to join the lineup for the Queensland derby - grab your tickets for the 7:30pm game HERE!