Penrith's senior representative basketball teams grabbed a crucial double-header success over the Maitland Mustangs in Maitland on Saturday night, in Round 17 of the 2014 Waratah Championship League (WCL) competition.
The sixth-placed 'Davlin Security' Panthers women travelled north without Australian representative Tahlia Tupaea and found some unexpected resistance from the lowly-ranked home team in the first quarter.
Penrith led 19-15 at the first break and 42-29 at half time, before breaking the game open in the third term to lead 68-54 leading into 'money time'.
Rohanee Cox was simply dominant on the night, grabbing 39 points and 15 boards, whilst Dominika Offner (Springwood) had 12 points, as the Panthers cruised home for a 88-66 win.
The 'Pioneer Tavern' Panthers men were also without their key player Angus Brandt (Springwood) , who was in Canberra with the Australian Men's team (Boomers).
Mustangs import Mitch Rueter was the obvious danger man but the Panthers game plan to keep the American relatively quiet worked to perfection.
Penrith led 18-16 at the first break, 37-34 at half time, then followed the Penrith women's strategy by breaking the game open in the third quarter to lead 68-54 at the final break.
Ben Kearins had inspired the Panthers huge third quarter performance, whilst Springwood duo Louis Brandt and Jarrod Sorenson kept the team's momentum strong through the final quarter as the Panthers grabbed a vital 93-77 win.
Both Penrith teams host the competition-leading Northern Suburbs Bears teams on Saturday,August 9 at the Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre, with the men's game at 4pm and the women's game at 6pm.
