Taipans unable to stop rampaging Wildcats

After returning home following their Round 12 road double-header – a weekend where they were only missing athletic forward AK Gak – Cairns added Sam Waardenburg (hand) and Dillon Stith (knee) to their casualty ward. Returning for action for the Wildcats was former Taipan Keanu Pinder, with Todd Withers continuing to replace the injured Kristian Doolittle.

Immediately getting to work, Rob Edwards sent himself to the free throw line on the opening possession, before stripping the ball off the league’s leading scorer to kickstart the Taipans’ night.

Not allowing the Wildcats to hit their shots across their opening three possessions – including two chances by Bryce Cotton – Cairns quickly blasted off to a 9-2 lead before the visitors were able to settle themselves.

Starting to find their touch from range, Perth reeled in the Taipans with Dylan Windler and Izan Almansa restricting the local’s lead, before Taran Armstrong hit back-to-back to extend the margin out to double digits.

As the point guard reached 11pts at the first break of the game, opposite him Cotton struggled to open his night as he was restricted to four points – with the American missing four of his first five attempts.

Pulling down a series of rebounds on both ends of the court, Kyrin Galloway setup chances to extend the lead – an opportunity that Pedro Bradshaw grabbed, draining a three before Windler hit back with his own.

Pushing the pace after the Taipans ended the opening quarter with 28 points, Edwards joined his fellow guard in his scoring efforts as Bradshaw launched a barrage of shots from deep to make it a trio getting the job done.

Finally starting to increase his contributions to the scoreboard, Cotton briefly pulled Cairns back to a four-point lead, until Armstrong replied with seven straight points to rebuild the margin to double digits.

With the American finding his rhythm, the 11-point lead lasted for a mere nine seconds before Cotton found his way back to the rim to kick off a nine-point run across just over two minutes.

Struggling to match the shooting guard’s quick scoring burst despite both Edwards and Kyrin Galloway draining triples, a buzzer beating and-one by Windler brought the margin back to three points at the main break.

Firing early after returning to the court, Cotton continued his offensive barrage to continue building on his now 20-point performance as costly turnovers forced the Taipans to call an early timeout.

As the Wildcats drew the lead for their first time of the night, Windler joined Cotton in their offensive onslaught whilst Tanner Groves struggled to keep pace at the other end.

With the pace of the game ramping up dramatically – forcing both sides to quickly roll through their troops with multiple substitutions occurring per stoppage – Perth continued to pile on the points, building the lead out to 18 points as the matchup entered the final quarter.

Opening the quarter by putting the ball in Groves’ hands, the Taipans looked to restrict the margin but were faced with a tall order with Perth hitting all six of their opening looks.

As Cotton continued to pile on the points despite the sizeable margin, the shooting guard blasted past the 40-point mark for his fourth game across December, with the damage done as Perth cruised to the final buzzer.

Once more leading his side on the offensive end, Taran Armstrong put up 24 points, five boards and eight assets to round out his night – his fourth 20+ points game across his last five appearances.

Also passing the 20-point mark were Tanner Groves and Rob Edwards – contributing 23 and 20 points respectively. The guard ended his night with six rebounds, three dimes, a steal, and six drawn fouls, whilst his fellow American pulled down two boards, blocked two shots, and shot a perfect five of five from inside the arc.

“It’s just been one of those seasons. Everybody goes through these types of spells, but I don’t think that I’ve had anything like this,” explained Taipans Head Coach Adam Forde.

“Sam wants to be out there – he’s an absolute warrior, but he can’t. He can’t perform for us at the moment, and we’ll get his thumb right, and same with AK.

“The guys are giving me everything they’ve got – they’re leaving nothing out there – so it sucks for them that it was the 36-point margin that it was, but we’ll break it down.

“At three quarter time, already you see their heads drop, their shoulder drop, and I thought Tanner was good in a sense of trying to galvanise the group and bring a bit of energy.

“So, he led it with his voice at the break, and then he came out with some intent – there’s no quitting with him.”

The Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans will now head south to Brisbane for the second Queensland derby of the season. After facing the Bullets on Friday night, they’ll return home to host Melbourne United for Boxing Day at 6:30pm – tickets for the blockbuster are available HERE.