Panthers Stretch Losing Streak to Four

by noelrr
20/05/2012

The Penrith Panthers senior men's team has extended its losing streak to four games, following an 88-77 loss to the Sydney Comets on Sunday afternoon at the Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre, Cambridge Park - in Round Eight of the 2012 Waratah Championship League (WCL) competition. Whilst the day featured a very low-key player reunion amongst only recent Penrith players, the visitors got in on the act by fielding four former Panthers in their line-up. Rod Proctor's history with Penrith went back the furthest, with the popular American playing for Penrith during it's glory days in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) competition. Ufojan Isbicer also played SEABL as an import for the Panthers, in their final year at that level of basketball, whilst American Terry Amir briefly played State League for the Panthers in more recent years. Former Panthers junior and senior representative Tom Dawson rounded out the power-packed quartet, who showed little regard for their former club as they combined to lead the Comets to victory. Both teams shared the scoring honours through the early stages of the game, with the Panthers leading 24-20 at the end of the first quarter and the Comets leading 47-42 at half time. Svetomir (Steve) Gavrilovic (15 points) and Ben Ellsworth (12) were the leading players for Penrith at that stage of the game, whilst Blake Borgia (15) was shooting the lights out for the Comets. Both teams doubled their turnover count during the third quarter but it was the Comets who made the most of their opportunities, holding the Panthers at arms-length to lead 67-64 at the end of the term. Dawson was still edging towards double figures but his biggest impact was on the boards, where he led all players with eleven rebounds. Gavrilovic had continued to lead the Panthers point-scoring efforts, whilst the Comets dynamic point guard Michael Seckold matched his opponent basket for basket during that term. The Comets punished the Panthers for a number of soft turnovers at the start of the fourth quarter and once they had established a solid lead, shut the game down to a snail's pace, thereby denying the Panthers opportunities for their transition offence to get into swing. There will be little or no respite for the Panthers in their next two games, with the team heading to the Northern Suburbs Indoor Sports Centre (NSISC) Crows Nets on Saturday night to face the Northern Suburbs Bears, then returning home on Sunday to host the Central Coast Crusaders. Both of those opponents have already inflicted heavy defeats on the Panthers during the current four-game losing streak and the odds are stacked heavily towards that streak growing to six games. Panthers head coach Jeff Cooper will take some heart from the weekend's results, with the lowly-rated Manly Warringah Sea Eagles scoring a surprise 87-73 win over the Bears - thus showing they can be beaten. Cooper levelled his team's defeat against the Comets at their turnover count during both the second and third quarters. "Sixteen turnovers in two terms saw us lose a ten-point lead" said Cooper. "We panicked under pressure". Sydney Comets 88 (Michael Seckold 25 points; Tom Dawson 14 points, 11 boards; Blake Borgia 18 points) def Penrith Panthers 77 (Svetomir Gavrilovic 26 points, 9 boards; Sean Albert 13 points; Ben Ellsworth 12 points, 9 boards; Rob Crane 11 points, 8 boards)

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