Wildcats Light Up 36ers with Perth Roof Open

Sunday, January 15, 2023

A spectacular first half onslaught with the open roof at RAC Arena saw the Perth Wildcats fully display their offensive arsenal on the way to the 112-97 win over the Adelaide 36ers on Saturday night.

With both teams locked in the battle over playoff positions, the fourth meeting of the season between the arch-rivals was always going to be significant with the added sense of occasion with the RAC Arena open for the first ever time.

A sold out crowd of 13,087 greeted that occasion too and most of them were sent into raptures with what the Wildcats delivered in the first half.

The 'Cats scored 67 points up to half-time in the best first half performance of any team this season. That saw them hit 9/13 as a team from three-point land including five of those from Brady Manek on his way to 18 points.

Bryce Cotton shook off an injury scare coming into the game to still have 16 opening half points and on the back of that, the Wildcats were never in danger throughout the second half to deliver an emphatic 15-point victory.

The result strengthens the Wildcats hold on a playoff spot too improving to 12-10 with six games to go. It puts another dagger into the 36ers' hopes who are now 11-12 having lost three straight.

The Wildcats claimed the Cattalini Cup for NBL23 as well named in honour of Martin Cattalini while Manek was the Rogers Medal winner, presented by Paul Rogers. He finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds while hitting 6/9 from beyond the arc.

Cotton added 23 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals with Corey Webster contributing 17 points and five assists, TaShawn Thomas 17 points and six rebounds, and Tai Webster 10 points and seven assists.

Wildcats coach John Rillie couldn’t be happier with the way his team's offence is coming together at the right time of the season.

"We played some nice basketball there in the first half. The defence was solid, we really just shared the ball and played with great pace on offence," Rillie said.

"Everyone got to share in it and it was beautiful to watch there. I just think there's a comfortability playing to each other's strengths now within the offence while giving them some freedom.

"We've seen that over the last month how that's just gradual building and Tai brings another dynamic to that with the pace that he plays the game at."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Brady Manek's first score that wasn't a three ball tonight...<br><br>Was this ?????? dunk ?<br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> live on ESPN via Kayo Sports + Foxtel ? <a href="https://t.co/XYpUZdXFxo">pic.twitter.com/XYpUZdXFxo</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1614210220770873350?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Robert Franks was a virtual lone hand for Adelaide especially in the second and third quarters before fouling out early in the fourth. He ended up with 25 points, five rebounds and three assists on 8/13 shooting with 5/9 of those from downtown.

While Antonius Cleveland also had 23 points, Mitch McCarron 14, Ian Clark 10 and Daniel Johnson 10 for the Sixers, defensively was again the problem.

They couldn’t stop Perth putting up the 112 points on 53 per cent shooting including 15/27 at 55 per cent from beyond the arc, and 28 assists to 12 turnovers.

Sixers coach CJ Bruton just felt his team didn’t do as a good job as they planned denying the Wildcats to get locked in from three-point land.

"They made some tough shots but having a hand up and trying to take away that three-point shot, there's also other guys on the floor who can make plays and create plays," Bruton said.

"While they played downhill and got a couple of looks, it was living with them living with two balls that we didn't quite get done. If you look at the end result, they went 15/27 at 55 per cent, most teams make around 13 or under. They had 11 at half-time so it's one of those things we have to continue to work on."

The very first possession of the game saw the Wildcats set the tone with a three-point play from TaShawn Thomas. While Adelaide scored six of the next eight points including four to Kai Sotto, the Wildcats would soon take over in spectacular fashion.

After two layups to Mitch McCarron helped Adelaide to 13-12 lead, Perth dominated the rest of the first quarter starting with an 8-0 run courtesy of Tai Webster and Bryce Cotton.

The 'Cats then closed the opening quarter with the last 10 points including a pair of three balls from Brady Manek for their best first term of NBL23 to lead 32-17.

Cotton had 12 of those 32 points with the Wildcats shooting at 64 per cent from the floor and hitting 4/5 from deep with Adelaide missing all nine of their three-point attempts and shooting 38 per cent overall.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Cotton gets the steal and hits 'em with the ???? ????? ?<br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> live on ESPN via Kayo Sports + Foxtel ? <a href="https://t.co/B8ms0DdMiz">pic.twitter.com/B8ms0DdMiz</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1614204431511478273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Sixers scored the first four points of the second term leading to a quick John Rillie timeout. It worked starting with a Thomas bucket and then a third three of the half to Manek.

Manek was just getting started and he hit another long ball that turned into a four-point play. He then hit a fifth three-pointer on his way to 18 points for the half with the Wildcats leading blowing out to 21 by half-time.

With Cotton adding 16 points, Thomas 11 and Corey Webster 10, it was an offensive onslaught from the Wildcats for the best first half of any team this season to lead 67-46 on the back of going 63 per cent from the field and 69 from three-point land.

Only Robert Franks kept Adelaide in any sort of touch with his four threes and 17 points in the second quarter.

It was more of the same in the third quarter with the Wildcats not letting up. They went on another 12-0 run late in the third quarter to blow it out to a 32-point game and by three quarter-time the margin was still 29.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Thomas gets to the rim again and ?????? ?? with one hand!<br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> live on ESPN via Kayo Sports + Foxtel ? <a href="https://t.co/2HxEquc4lj">pic.twitter.com/2HxEquc4lj</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1614202794252308480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Both teams were just playing out the final 10 minutes and Perth were still up 24 until Antonius Cleveland helped Adelaide to the last nine points to cut the final margin to 15.

The 36ers next head to Brisbane to play the Bullets on Thursday night while the Wildcats remain at home to host the Sydney Kings on Friday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 15

PERTH WILDCATS 112 (Manek 23, Cotton 23, C Webster 17, Thomas 17)

ADELAIDE 36ERS 97 (Franks 25, Cleveland 23, McCarron 14)

BOX SCORE