The Penrith Panthers were on the road to the Bankstown Basketball Stadium on Saturday afternoon, facing up to the strong Bankstown Bruins in Round Fourteen of the 2013 Waratah Championship League (WCL) competition.
Whilst many pundits had pencilled in the strong Lady Bruins for an easy win over the debutante Panthers in the opening game of the day, the circumstances of the game took nearly everyone by surprise.
Penrith leapt into action from the opening whistle, outscoring the Bruins 24-10 in the opening term.
All of that good work however was quickly undone in the second term, as the Bruins shut the Panthers down to just five points in the second term to close to just one point behind (28-29) at the half time break.
Bankstown kept the initiative to lead 44-40 at the end of the third term, then slowly edged away to eventually finish ahead 65-51.
The men's game was a more tense affair, with both teams desperately needing a win to keep their respective playoff ambitions alive.
Penrith led 15-12 and 37-36 at the first two breaks, then lifted in the third term to take a 56-43 lead into money-time.
Bankstown through everything at the Panthers in the final term, as the visitors struggled to regain their scoring touch on the boards.
Cool heads would ultimately prevail, with Penrith holding on steadfastly for a 69-63 win.
Penrith host the powerful Hornsby Spiders at the Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre this Saturday, with the women's game up first at 3pm, followed by the men's game at 5pm.
Hornsby are ahead of the Panthers in both the men's and women's divisions but the result of at least one game is far from assured.
Penrith still have the playoffs in their sights and need a good win over the Spiders to keep a number of teams at bay in the race to the playoffs, including the Bruins and Hills District Hornets.
Women: Bankstown Bruins 65
(Briana Maimone 22 points, 8 boards; Adrianne Bywater 10 points, 12 boards, 6 assists; Kelly Wells 10 points)
def Penrith Panthers 51
(Kallie Hovatter 10 points; Claire Petterson 10 points; Jess Johnson 10; Kelli Sims 10 boards)
Men: Penrith Panthers 69
(Ben Ellsworth 22 points, 10 boards; Louis Brandt 10 points, 15 boards, 5 assists; Josh Morehead 9 points, 8 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals)
def Bankstown Bruins 63
(Svetomir (Steve) Gavrilovic 21 points, Brett Foster 14 boards)
