Gardner sinks 43 points as Saints maintain winning ways in KBBA men’s division one competition

Michael Gardner went on a three-point bombing mission against CBC, paving the way for Saints to rack up their second win from as many games in the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Basketball Association men’s division one competition.

The grand final rematch saw Gardner score no fewer than nine goals from three-point range, accumulating 43 points in his team’s 101-85 victory on Friday.

There were also good contributions from Sam Morrow (29 points) for CBC, and Charlie Scafidi (22 points) for Saints.

Saints had the edge in the first quarter, 29-21, but CBC charged back to narrow the gap they trailed to three points, 50-47, at half-time.

CBC also had the edge in the third quarter, 23-21, meaning the score was 71-10 to Saints entering the final term.

But Saints showed no mercy, racking up 30 points to 15 to walk away with the victory.

The other match of the round last Thursday saw Olympians achieve a 71-60 victory against Franchise on the back of solid contributions from Nicholas Shaw (22 points), Jayden Doel (21), and Jarrod Donaldson (20).

Nicholas Lawrence was best for Franchise with 14 points.

Key quarters for Olympians were the first (winning 18-7) and the third (winning 21-8).

Franchise took out the fourth quarter by 28-18 but it was not enough to pull back the deficit.

In the women’s match of the round last Friday, Chloe Zorzi led the way with 21 points as Saints defeated CBC 63-40.

Interestingly, Zorzi was the only Saint to return a double-figure score, with Elena Scafidi and Sarah Tagliaferri each scoring seven points, and Alex Clinch-Hoycard and Tegan Alabach six each.

For CBC, Matilda Gouge scored 12 points, and Sophie Hutchinson scored 11 points.