Waardenburg Returns as Taipans Fall to JackJumpers

The Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans delivered plenty for the home crowd early on Saturday afternoon, but couldn’t quite sustain it across four quarters, going down 81-68 to the Tasmania JackJumpers at the Cairns Convention Centre.

Suited up in special edition Space Jam jerseys on home floor, the Taipans opened with a blistering 13-0 run to start the contest, setting a tone of pressure, pace and intent.

Sam Waardenburg’s long-awaited season debut had an instant highlight, slamming down an alley-oop lob from Andrew Andrews in the opening minutes to make his presence known immediately.

Mawot Mag, making his first start of the season, was impactful early as Cairns carried a 21-13 lead into quarter-time.

Tasmania, as they so often do, gradually turned the contest into a physical arm-wrestle.

Even when Cairns’ offence slowed in the second quarter, Andrews (18 points from 5-11 FG and 4-9 from three, eight assists) found ways to keep the scoreboard ticking over, including a huge four-point play after being fouled beyond the arc and still draining the triple.

Jack McVeigh (24 points from 8-17 FG, eight rebounds and four assists) was a constant problem against his former side, scrambling the defence in the first half. With both McVeigh and Andrews sitting on 12 points at the break, the Taipans took a 39–37 lead into half-time.

Both sides fiercely protected possessions in a low-turnover game (Cairns 10 to Tasmania 6), but the JackJumpers began to gain ascendancy after comfortably winning the rebound count (Cairns 31 to Tasmania 51 while Cairns had 5 offensive rebounds to Tasmania's 21 offensive rebounds).

The turning point came after the interval, when Tasmania lifted their pressure and the Taipans’ offence became harder to generate.

Cairns lost the lead for the first time in the third quarter, despite some promising moments through a dangerous three-man action between Andrews, McVeigh and Waardenburg.

Taipans centre Marcus Lee’s presence at the rim stood out again — with an intimidating third-quarter block, recording six for the game to equal the most in Taipans history — but the JackJumpers edged in front 60–54 at three-quarter time.

Cairns pulled level at 60-60 with six minutes to play to give the crowd genuine belief late.

From there, Tasmania’s experience helped them execute down the stretch with former Toronto Raptor David Johnson knocking down two crucial back-to-back makes to create separation and close out the result.

Tasmania’s quartet of Josh Bannan (20 points from 6-14 FG, 13 rebounds including eight offensive rebounds), Bryce Hamilton (13 points from 5-14 FG, seven boards, seven assists), Johnson (13 points from 5-13 FG) and Will Magnay (nine points from 3-8 FG, 13 rebounds and three blocks) gave the JackJumpers the edge when the game tightened.

Taipans Head Coach Adam Forde:
“We were constantly playing defence, we gave up 21 offensive rebounds and they took 18 more shots than us. We were constantly getting outworked and outmuscled on the rebounds. It was always going to be tough when we lost the possession game.”

“That’s the biggest adjustment now [that Sam Waardenburg is back]. With the focus on Jack [McVeigh] and Sam. We don’t want too many of the rest of the guys just spectating off the ball. We’ll keep making strides in that regard. We’re behind the eight ball and there’s catching up to do. But the indicators are there early on, especially from the first quarter and we’ll keep building on that.”

While the scoreboard didn’t fall Cairns’ way, there were real positives for Taipans fans to take, including Waardenburg’s return to the lineup with Mag providing a strong lift in the absence of New Zealand international Mojave King. With exciting guard King ruled out due to a glute strain sustained during the week, the 23-year-old will be a huge boost for the next game against the Breakers.

‍The Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans will look to bounce back and build on the positives when they return to the Cairns Convention Centre to host the New Zealand Breakers on Friday, 19 December at 6:30pm. Grab your tickets HERE.‍