Ringwood Hawks Australia crushed Kerala All Stars 84-59 to take an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the five match international Hoopathon series at the Jimmy George indoor stadium here on Saturday.
The Australians came up with a dazzling display of skill and speed to overwhelm Kerala.Except for a few seconds in the first quarter when it levelled the scores at eight points, Kerala was always playing the catch up game.
The Kerala team struggled to break the strong zonal defence put up by the Australians. The shooting, both from far and near, and the offensive rebound collection of Kerala left a lot to be desired. Australians hit back with fast breaks and were generally good with their rebound collection.
READ: When Kerala stunned the Hawks
The tall guard Amanda Meinking made the difference in rebound collection and successfully screened Kerala's star player Jeena, who was playing with fever, from making an impact.
Piper Goldie was a bundle of energy and repeatedly broke through to nail baskets for Australia while the top scorer Cassidy Mihalkho made her presence felt with her consistent shooting.Australia led 20-13 at the end of first quarter and swelled the lead to 45-30 at half time.
Kerala started the third quarter on the wrong foot committing errors and conceding the ball easily to Australians. However, Kerala made a late comeback to reduce the lead. But local stars ran out of steam in the last quarter as Australians scored from near and far to win comfortably.
The final match of the series will be played in Kozhikode on Sunday.
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