Taipans fall short to Phoenix

The Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans were unable to close out Round 11 with a win, going down to the South East Melbourne Phoenix 99-94 on Saturday night.

Making their way into John Cain Arena 48 hours after their matchup in Tasmania, the Taipans were once more missing AK Gak, with the well-rested Phoenix also missing their point guard Derrick Walton Jr.

Opening the game by working into the paint, both sides scored early on by attacking the rim, with Taran Armstrong making consecutive fast break buckets to open his account.

After taking a series of outside shots to try and increase their scoring, the Phoenix finally dialled in from deep with Nathan Sobey hitting a series of threes to fire out to an early lead – with the home side clocking up 21 points in under 5 minutes.

As the Taipans struggled to get past the Phoenix’s full court press, the hosts continued to build out the margin with an extra 12 field goals when compared to their opponents in the opening quarter, as the two sides scored 67 points in the opening 10 minutes.

Looking for a spark off the bench, Cairns looked to Alex Higgins-Titsha to turn the tables who immediately hammered home a dunk seconds after checking in.

With the development player having his intended impact on the game, the Taipans increased their intensity and crashed the glass hard to reduce the once 11-point lead to only 2 points.

Inspired by his fellow forward, Pedro Bradshaw caught fire to hit the scoreboard for the first time since returning from injury – hitting a series of shots to bring Cairns a single point shy of their opponents.

Responding to Cairns’ advances, the Phoenix locked in to only miss one shot across the final four minutes of the half, with the Victorians taking advantage of the Taipans resting their foul troubled stars.

Returning to the court facing a 13-point margin, the Taipans immediately got to work, halving the margin in under two minutes.

Led by their point guard, Cairns quickly reduced the led – shutting down a small resurgence from the Phoenix to claw their way back into the game.

Following Armstrong’s strong performance, Rob Edwards fired himself up to continue reducing the deficit, before staring down Owen Foxwell to steal the lead from the hosts.

Whilst their guards went rampaging at one end of the floor, Higgins-Titsha and Bradshaw locked down the defensive end to send shots flying away – rendering the Phoenix directionless without the injured Derrick Walton Jr.

With Cairns carrying a seven-point lead into the final quarter, the South East Melbourne leaned on the veterans of Sobey and Angus Glover to quickly recapture the lead.

Struggling to find their rhythm, the Taipans were unable to match the Victorian’s offensive onslaught, who rebuilt their lead out to 10 points before Edwards was able to break the draught.

Striking with a series of late shots from deep, Jonah Antonio reduced the margin to five points with seconds remaining on the clock, but the Taipans were unable to finish off their late comeback with the Phoenix walking away with the win.

Returning to his high-scoring ways, Rob Edwards led Cairns’ efforts on the offensive end with 24 points, seven rebounds and two steals, with fellow guard Taran Armstrong ending his night with 18 points, six rebounds and three assists.

In his second game after returning from injury, Pedro Bradshaw earned himself a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, with Sam Waardenburg closing out with an impressive 14 points, six boards, five assists, three blocks and two steals.

Appearing on the court for the first time in nearly a month, Alex Higgins-Titsha only contributed four points, five rebounds, one assist and one block to the stats sheet. However, the forward helped turn the momentum in the game to finish his night with a plus/minus of +18 in under 10 minutes of action.

"We went to Alex, and Alex really provided a real good kick start for us which was good, and he provided that energy," explained Taipans Head Coach Adam Forde.

"For three quarters we did a great job of staying in our disciplines. But we just have these lapses which are extremely costly.

"Guys started doing things that they think are helping, that aren't helping. We're just desperate to get a win when we just need to play and that's what you can feel in the fourth quarter, and we've got to be relaxed and just play.

"I thought we were due to break the drought five games ago, but now it's 100% mental. Everything now is 100% mental, and it's nothing to do with talent, fitness, injuries - it's nothing to do with that, it's just a straight mental game now and we have to overcome our own mental hurdles."

The Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans now return home to Far North Queensland, and will next take to the court on Saturday night. They'll host the Perth Wildcats from 7:00pm in their only Round 12 fixture - tickets are available HERE.