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Farm Athletics close to finals in maiden A-grade season

Headshot of Cameron Newbold
Cameron NewboldAlbany Advertiser
The Farm Athletics' Kalin Lane.
Camera IconThe Farm Athletics' Kalin Lane. Credit: Laurie Benson/Albany Advertiser

In their maiden A-grade season, The Farm Athletics are closing in on a finals berth after an emphatic 14-point win over Kingjarling Thunder in round 14 on Tuesday night.

Farm Athletics opened up a 10-point advantage in the first half as centre Kalin Lane and forward Jordan Griffiths were both busy and by half-time they were ahead 26-15.

Thunder fought back though, as they began to control Lane in the keyway and Gerson Alforque found his range.

Alforque nailed consecutive triples to drag the deficit back to just five points as it shaped up as being a tight finish.

But just as Thunder got rolling so did Zac Pearson for Farm Athletics. The hard-working guard had a hand in everything in what seemed like a five-minute period that killed off the game.

Pearson and David Arthur combined to score 14 points in a little purple patch for Farm Athletics as their side skipped clear by 19 points.

In a game where defence was a sloppy at both ends, the final few minutes were a score fest.

Pearson was the dominant force in the Farm Athletics 68-54 victory, collecting 20 points and a stack of assists, Mitch Lenegan (10 points) provided great impact off the bench while Lane (8) and Arthur (9) were also strong contributors.

Alforque was the shining light in Thunder’s loss, hitting four triples in his 22-point haul that all came in the second half and Jackson Shaw worked hard under the basket for his 16 points.

The win helped Farm Athletics remain in fourth spot heading into the final two rounds while finals are now extremely unlikely for Thunder who need to win both remaining games and have results fall their way.

Knights’ winning streak continued for another week after prevailing in a see-sawing contest over Raiders under-18 development squad.

Raiders were bullied by the defending premiers in the opening half and trailed by 13 points as Knights were on track for a big win.

However, the Raiders fought back strongly with 38 points in the second half, to go down 66-55 in the end.

Tigers finals hopes remain on track after a 37-34 triumph in their round 14 encounter with Ambassadors while Barking Owls dented Crabs’ chances of making the top four, beating them by 21 points.

In the women’s A-grade competition Magpies crushed Phoenix, 40-17, led by Narelle (18) and Nardia (14) Humphries.

Panthers overcame a spirited Raiders outfit to win the other round 14 fixture with Ella Scamozzi’s 21-point game helping her side win 51-41.

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