THE Kennedy’s Tours Shoalhaven Tigers have extended their winning streak to eight in a row, following two road victories in the Waratah League division two youth competition.
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The cubs made the trip up the Pacific Highway to Newcastle on Saturday, to battle the third-placed Hunters.
Scott Balsar’s troops started strongly, behind the play of skipper Riley O’Shannessy, Jeremy Harding and Kyle Leslie – seeing the visitors hold a slender one-point advantage at the first break.
The second quarter saw the Tigers ramp up their full court defence, forcing the Hunters into costly turnovers.
Brayden Morris was absolutely outstanding on the defensive end, building the pressure and helping extend the lead to 42-32 at the half-time.
The third quarter belonged to the black and gold, with Josh Watts and Luke Smith controlling the tempo perfectly, as the visitors lead stretched to 20 at three quarter-time.
This advantage allowed Balsar to rotate his whole squad in the fourth, which saw the lead extend even further, as the cubs ran out winners 86-53 – sending clear message to the league that they mean business.
O’Shannessy finished with 23 points, 19 rebounds and five assists, while Leslie (19 points), Smith (14) and Harding (11) all scored well.
“This was an important road win, Newcastle are a solid team and to beat them on their home court is massive,” Balsar said.
“I was super impressed with our defence – led by Brayden Morris, Luke Smith and Josh Watts, who have combined to form one of the top backcourts in the league.
“We are keeping teams to below their scoring averages while piling on the points ourselves – that’s a recipe for success.”
Balsar’s cubs backed up this strong performance on Sunday against the Central Coast Waves, showing why they sit on top of the ladder – stamping their authority from the tip.
The full court pressure and the fast break were dynamic, with all of the Tigers starters getting involved and by the end of the first quarter, the visitors led 33-8.
By half-time, the lead was out to 53-18, with it blowing out 111-40 by the time the final siren sounded.
In the win, the Tigers had five players in double figures scoring; O’Shannessy (18 points), Morris (16), Brendan Sampson (15), Lachlan Crowe (14) and Bruce Ozolins (10).
“Sunday was a good chance to play everyone and also get through a lot of our stuff we haven’t run a lot of this season,” Balsar said.
“We are just happy that we are 8-0 heading into round seven this weekend.”
The Tigers now turn their attention to this weekend’s double header at the Den.
Saturday’s clash with Springwood, from 2pm, will be part of the club’s ‘Get Your Pink’ on breast cancer round – where all three senior teams will take the court.
The cubs will back up on Sunday against Camden Valley from 12.30pm.