Wheelcats Dominant in Opening Cluster Round
The Perth Wheelcats have enjoyed a dominant opening cluster round campaign in Perth, winning all four matches with Amber Merritt and Georgia Inglis providing star roles.
The pair forged a crucial partnership for the Wheelcats and lead the competition’s key statistics in points scored and assists, following wins over Sydney Metro Blue Hornets, Queensland Comets, Kilsyth Cobras and the Red Dust Heelers.
Perth commenced its season on Friday night at the Bendat Basketball Centre with the hardest fought of their weekend cluster round victories, which came via a two point win (50-48) over Sydney.
The Blue Hornets actually created more shooting opportunities, but it was the sharper finishing of the Wheelcats that earned victory, with Merritt contributing 18 points, six assists and 13 rebounds in an excellent all-court performance. She was ably assisted by her Australian international teammate Sarah Vinci – who dropped 17 points with eight rebounds in a huge performance from the low-pointer.
They returned to action on Saturday morning at HBF Stadium, with a crushing 85-31 victory over the Queensland Comets. Their interstate rivals had now answer for Perth’s pressure, with Merritt contributing 34 points and eight assists, Inglis hitting 27 points, with eight assists and Vinci contributing 20 points.
On Sunday they were back at Bendat and secured another narrow victory, this time a four point win (53-49) over Kilsyth Cobras.
Merritt and Inglis again led the way, with Merritt scoring 20 points, adding seven assists and pulling in 13 rebounds, whilst Inglis sank 18 points to go with nine assists.
They made it four from four with a 20 point win over the Red Dust Heelers (67-47) to close out the cluster round, with Merritt again sealing victory with another hot hand, this time top scoring with 27 points, eight assists and 12 rebounds.
The Red Dust Heelers were gallant across the weekend, but came away winless from their four matches.
Unsurprisingly, the Wheelcats lead the competition at the close of the first cluster round on 12 competition points.
Merritt is top of both the scoring and scoring averages charts following four matches, with 99 points at an average of 24.75 points per game.
Inglis leads the assists column with 7.5 score contributions per game from her weekend’s work.
The 2019 Women’s National Wheelchair Basketball League will next be in action with a cluster round in Sydney, starting on June 7.
Photo: Basketball Australia