Suns fade after bright start in both games

The Northland Suns are looking forward to wiping the slate clean in the second round of the Super City Basketball Competition next Saturday, after struggling to get that elusive win in round one of their debut season.
Despite finishing the first round of nine games without a win at the weekend, chief executive and player Travis McIlroy said he was pleased with how the Suns were performing - on and off the court.
"The boys are getting used to the competition, and stepping up. This season was all about developing the guys and we are slowly getting there," he said. The Suns played a double header at the weekend, going up against the Breakers Development side on Friday night at the Breakers Training Facility, followed by a physical game against Waitakere on Saturday.
Northland played cohesively to get out to a 59-51 lead on Friday night against the Development team.
Power forward Justin Friedrich showed his dominance on the court, getting another double double, hitting 20 points and 10 rebounds, while skipper Corey Poa had a heavy workload - he scored 18 points and nabbed 17 rebounds. Keenan Fong also had an impressive stint on the court.
After a strong first half, the Suns' wheels fell off as the Development side looked for other ways to score.
The Development side played around the Suns defence and shot four consecutive three pointers, giving them a lead which they extended as the Suns lost their way.
"We had problems defending the perimeter - letting them shoot without any defence. We then let them get ahead especially in the fourth quarter. We need to start playing 40 minutes of basketball," McIlroy said.
The Breakers Development side won comfortably,  101-79.
Up against Waitakere on Saturday, the Suns had some fresh blood on the court, in new recruit Mitch Knox, a 22-year-old from Kerikeri, who recently played for West Auckland.
Also on board was Whangarei's Reuben and Bo Mackie, who both play shooting guard/point guard. "The brothers are both aggressive and defenders don't know how to stop them," McIlroy said.
Although the new players played well, the Suns struggled with the new combinations on court. Again they got out to a good start, leading the first quarter 24-15, but then the legs started to hurt from the previous night, and Waitakere took full advantage of the fatigued side.
By halftime, Waitakere were up 35-58 and at fulltime, they had won convincingly by 30 points,  97-67. Poa was impressive once more, scoring 20 points and gaining 18 rebounds.
The draw for game 10 this Saturday - the first game of the second round  - has yet to be finalised.