Bruins Maul Panthers in Round 9 of NBL1 East

By Noel Rowsell

Both Penrith Panthers senior basketball teams suffered losses to the Bankstown Bruins on Saturday afternoon at the Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre, Cambridge Park, in Round 9 of the 2023 Coles Express NBL1 East competition.

Round 9 celebrated and acknowledged all Australian women and men affected by breast cancer in the theme of ‘Pink’ Round.

the Penrith men led off the action on the day and trailed the Bruins throughout, with the visitors leading 22-17, 47-41 and 67-58 at the first three breaks in play, before eventually winning 85-76.

hayden Blankley (Bruins) had a day out against the Panthers, finishing with 35 points, 9 boards and 5 assists, ahead of Jonah Pares 13 points, Dragan Elkaz 11 and thomas Daus 10. Caleb FetuiFa’amoe led the Panthers with 17 points, ahead of Pranaya Sakya 15, Noman Massimino 10 and Jaedyn Fetui-Fa’amoe 10.

the Penrith women also trailed throughout their clash with the Lady Bruins, with the visitors leading 2014, 37-19 and 54-33 at the first three breaks. Both coaches ran their bench players for extended periods in the fourth quarter, as the Bruins powered away for an 80-49 win.

“Saturday proved to be a very difficult game for us,” said Panthers women’s head coach Bernie Slattery. “the physical nature of the Bankstown defence was allowed to dominate the game from start to finish, and the fact that we (only) scored 49 points is testament to this fact.

“the young Panthers were just overpowered by the physical contact that was allowed during the game and the biggest lesson has to be, the need to improve our ability to play through the physical contact that is permitted in the modern game.

“We did not handle this aspect of Saturday’s game and the impact was that we took more bad shots than we would like. We were intimidated by their level of contact, and we lost focus on the technical aspect of the game. Evidence can be seen easily in the half time score (Panthers had 19 points at the half).

“the Bruins came with a game plan to stop Meg Jefferson, who had scored 33 points in our previous game, and it certainly had the desired effect.

“With some tough match-ups in coming weeks, the young Panthers have a tremendous challenge ahead to stay on task and become a stronger tighter unit - a challenge we look forward to.” the Sea Eagles women are currently in 1st spot on the competition ladder, boasting an impressive 10-1 win-loss record this season. the Sea Eagles struggled to get past the Panthers in their first meeting this year, at Warriewood, but certainly impressed with their most recent win, which was a 74-39 drubbing of the hills District hornets, at hills. the Sea Eagles men are currently in 15th spot, just 2 below the Panthers, with an unimpressive 1-10 win-loss record this season. their most recent game was a 79-68 loss to the hornets, at Hills. The Panthers won the first encounter against the Sea Eagles 9071, at Warriewood.

Violet Morrow led the Bruins with 22 points, 10 boards, 5 assists and 3 steals, ahead of Brittney Wright 14 points, 9 boards and 5 steals. Meg Jefferson led the Panthers with 14 points, ahead of Chloe Williams 13.

Both Penrith teams are at home again this Saturday night, taking on the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (women at 5.30pm and men at 7.30pm).