The hosts led 28-24 in the first quarter with swingman Thomas Abercrombie spearheading the shooting department to finish with a game-high 19 points and American import forward Akil Mitchell was two points behind.
Woodside showed all the agility required of a little general, almost in the mould of what Henare was like as a former Hawk and ANBL-winning player/captain, with 13 points and four assists.
Just as centre Alex Pledger, who didn't play last night because of a quad strain, had alluded to, the young and restless in the Breakers squad also came to play.
Rookie tall timber Rob Loe, knee strapped, also got into the assists and rebounds act (3/4) although that domain belonged to captain Mika Vukona (9/2).
For the Andrej Lemanis-coached Bullets, centre Tom Jervis and Anthony Petrie showed their worth with 15 points each while American import guard Jermaine Beal added 14 points and Craig Torrey claim close to a double-double of eight points and nine rebounds.
Breakers shooting machine Corey Webster had his work cut out marking the "Dolla" Beal.
No doubt when the sides face each other for the first time on Saturday, October 22, in Brisbane the currency for any stock exchanges won't be so inflated.
Penney only made a cameo 2:57-minute appearance but was quick to remind a howling Beal there was no need for theatrics to draw overtures from the whistle-happy striped shirts.
For that matter, Vukona didn't have to pull put his knuckle dusters in the driving lanes.
He even had time too make smalltalk with Bullets' Kiwi small forward, Reuben Te Rangi, but all that will change, too.
Of course, it wasn't all shimmy and giggle as Bullets power forward Mitchell Young found out in the dying minutes of the final quarter when he needed attention for a ruffled snout.
So did US import guard Craig when he went face first to the floor after coming off second best to Abercombie.
Henare and Lemanis also worked with the officials to iron out interpretations in time to find a dialect they would all understand come business time.
The last quarter fizzed but it was conspicuous in the absence of starting fives and bench pivots.
"Our main focus tonight was improving from Tauranga on Tuesday so I think in certain aspects we were better," said Henare, happy with the fluency of their offense.
But he hastened to add the Breakers had plenty to work on. He said his troops had some niggles and injuries and these games weren't the platform to push marquee players just yet.
Henare felt Brisbane had soundly beaten them on the paint (78 per cent to 58) so that would be the focus in Invercargill tomorrow.
"We had a great first quarter offensively but we just gave them too much confidence and easy buckets."
Bullets assistant coach CJ Bruton said for them it was players feeling their way against a formidable opposition he was familiar with as a former player.
"Andrej would like to do a few things expected of them on how we play and day-to-day basketball," Bruton said, adding teams were trying to bring a few party tricks but it boiled down to finding that chemistry.
He thought the Breakers "shut the ball well" and tried to push them on the glass.
"Overall I thought our guys did a great job of sticking to the script and we took advantage of what was available to us."
He said it was awesome to be in the Bay and what Henare was doing for the Breakers with a changing of guards not in just their roster but also the coaching stable as well as Dillon Boucher assuming the mantle of administrator.
For the Bullets, Bruton coming back to help Lemanis put Brisbane back in the day-to-day grind after his eventful involvement with the Boomers in Rio was inspiring the younger generation.
"It shows how much people love the game of basketball, nevermind if they are your young sons and daughters or grandmas and grandpas," he said.
Quarters (NZ first): 1st 28-24. 2nd 46-41 (18-17). 3rd 62-56 (16-15). 4th 75-79 (13-23).
