Thunder dunk: Ringwood's Adrien Sturt drops down after an alley-oop dunk on Saturday night. Picture: Gary Sissons
NOW don't get lazy.
Ringwood Hawks men's coach Ken Harrington wants his players to maintain the rage following their breakthrough 99-70 victory over two-time Big V state championship premiers Waverley Falcons at Maroondah Indoor Stadium on Saturday night.
The win not only proved a morale booster for the Hawks but gave them the season-series win over the Falcons, meaning the Hawks will hold the tie-breaker if the two teams are tied on the same record at season's end.
Harrington said the win was massive for his team.
"But I don't want us to get lazy after this," he said.
"We have to keep playing defence like that and keep in teams' faces, otherwise this is just another mid-season win.
"Having the split is important because the next time we face Waverley they won't be that bad. They are too good a team to play like this again. We got them on a bad night."
Falcons coach Eric Minerve cared little about losing the season series, instead turning his attention to how the Falcons can regain the defence, character and tenacity that helped them to two straight championships.
"They beat us at everything," he said.
"They beat us in intensity, effort, loose balls and rebounds. They just had more desire than we did."
The Hawks broke out to a double-figure lead late in the second term and led by 16 points at half-time.
From that point the Hawks continued to build their advantage and were even able to add some topping to their victory as import guard Skyler Bowlin (14 points, eight rebounds, eight assists) and late addition Adrien Sturt (13points) combined for an alley-oop dunk off the backboard in the final term with Bowlin the provider and Sturt the finisher.
"Skyler has been a blessing for us because he plays both ends. He gets after people on defence," Harrington said. "He has no ego and does everything we need him to do."
The Falcons' defence will come under close scrutiny after Bowlin, Matt Snowball (17 points) and Willie Weimer (13 points) all repeatedly found room to penetrate the key and create open shots.
The Hawks face another big test when they visit Hume City Broncos at Broadmeadows this Saturday night.For more pictures from Waverley v Ringwood go to
maroondahweekly.com.au.