Cairns have booked a NBL semi-finals sequence with reigning champions Sydney following a 91-78 do-or-die victory over Perth behind DJ Hogg’s huge efficiency.
Hogg tallied a season-high 32 factors to go along with 9 rebounds, 4 assists, two blocks and plus 32, in a sport a wounded Taipans had been with out their second and third main scoring choices in Keanu Pinder and Tahjere McCall.
Pinder stays sidelined as a result of an orbital fracture whereas McCall missed Sunday’s contest due a partial shoulder dislocation suffered of their Thursday seeding qualifier loss to Tasmania.
With the burden of far north Queensland on his shoulders, Hogg acquired going early of their offensive units and located a rhythm he would not lose because the Taipans stifled a late surge for a shot on the NBL finals beginning on Wednesday.
Cairns had a transparent sport plan for MVP runner-up and Wildcats star Bryce Cotton, who completed with simply 19 factors – under his season common of 23.5, working the electrical guard off the three-point line and forcing him into facilitating.
Cotton had 9 factors at quarter time however solely two extra within the first half as Hogg torched the Wildcats everywhere in the court docket.
Perth had been tardy on their switching and opened up passing lanes to the basket which Hogg and Sam Waardenburg (15 factors) would punish.
Cairns led 25-19 by means of 10 minutes on 50 per cent taking pictures from the sector and their splits would enhance within the second time period when Hogg and Shannon Scott hit back-to-back three-pointers to provide Cairns their first double-digit lead of the sport.
A fantastically drawn up play gave Mitch Norton a large open three and immediately momentum swung the way in which of the Wildcats and so they had been inside 5 simply minutes earlier than the half.
It was Hogg’s time to shine once more – a protracted three adopted by a fair deeper bomb from close to half court docket introduced his tally to 21 factors on simply 11 photographs because the Taipans took a nine-point margin into the second half.
Perth fought exhausting to slender the margin to seven early within the third quarter earlier than Cairns went on one other run and led by 16 because the end result getting away from the guests.
The Wildcats’ eight-to-zip run silenced a raucous crowd who might really feel a semi-final berth at their fingertips and the pandemonium continued when Hogg blocked Cotton to finish the third and have 28 factors by means of half-hour of motion.
Ultimately, the deficit was too massive to beat for Perth because the Taipans’ spectacular 51 per cent taking pictures noticed them by means of the ultimate time period with Bul Kuol (23 factors) clutch down the stretch.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
