ROUND 6 NWBL PREVIEW

Perth Wheelcats v Red Dust Heelers- Friday 12th July @ 7pm
Perth Wheelcats v Red Dust Heelers- Saturday 13th July @ 7pm
Red Dust Heelers v Perth Wheelcats- Sunday 14th July @ 9am

In a condensed Round 6, the Wheelcats and Heelers meet in Perth with a triple-header to be hosted at the Bendat Basketball Centre.

Perth are coming off the bye last weekend and will be keen to hit the court after Kilsyth and Queensland made some inroads on their second position on the ladder.

Wollongong have secured top spot heading into the playoffs so the Wheelcats are now in a race to nab one of the final three placings and they can go a long way to earning their position with success against Red Dust in Round 6.

The Heelers have been unable to get on the winners list this season and were beaten by Queensland in two meetings last weekend.

However, there were good signs from Ryan Morich on Saturday night and Jake Kavanagh on Sunday with a double-double of 16 points and ten rebounds.

They will need to be careful with the ball against Perth to protect against the likes of Shaun Norris, Michael Auprince and Amber Merritt going off while Andrew Dewberry and Phillip Evans have the ability to punish teams if given the opportunity as well.

Kilsyth Cobras v West Adelaide Thunder- Saturday 13th July @ 7.30pm
Kilsyth Cobras v West Adelaide Thunder- Sunday 14th July @ 10am

Looking to extend their three-game winning streak, Kilsyth can keep the pressure on Perth and continue to chase a top-two spot if they defeat West Adelaide this weekend.

They need to keep winning to hold off their nearest rivals below them on the ladder as well though with the Thunder sitting only six points behind them in sixth place.

West Adelaide’s playoff hopes will be dashed if they cannot find success against the Cobras but they will take confidence from their previous meeting back in Round 1 when they only fell by eight points.

Owning a 9-2 advantage in offensive rebounds and forcing 22 turnovers, the Thunder gave themselves every chance to cause an upset but they shot 38% from the field compared to Kilsyth’s 50% conversion rate while also being out-scored by eight from the free-throw line.

Tristan Knowles had a triple-double in that clash with 30 points, 11 rebounds and ten assists but Jay Dohnt, Adam Roocke and Eamon Wood all scored 14+ and combined for 11 steals to keep the pressure on the Cobras right to the end.

Last weekend, they made a concerted effort to limit their turnovers and restrict the amount of possessions for Wollongong and a similar performance could reap rewards in Round 6.