Southern Phoenix gave a solid display against Pirates in the penultimate week before the basketball league takes its Christmas hiatus.

Neil Domingo was quick to score from the jump ball for Pirates, but the lead was short-lived as Phoenix rookie Sully Forfar fired back with an aggressive run of solid lay-ups and mid-range jumpers.

The effort pushed Southern into an early lead which they held for much of the first quarter.

Pirates tightened their man-to-man defence in the final few minutes though, shutting down the Southern Phoenix offence and opening up opportunities for quick breaks from steals and turnovers.

John Russell gave another strong performance around the key with a trio of nice moves that pushed Pirates out at the end of the quarter, 17-20.

Zac Hand levelled the score with a swish three-pointer in the opening minute of the second quarter, a nice swing placing the ball into his hands for an open shot at the arc. It marked the start of a standout performance from Hand as he coupled with Forfar in an effective offensive pairing that saw Phoenix rise again.

Fast pace and quick swings had the Southern side breaking down Pirates defence, while pressure on the other end of the court contained their offence.

Mid-range shooting from Hand and Forfar, the latter also picking up a three-pointer, worked well with some fast breaks from Matt Jones as Phoenix pulled further ahead.

Jamie Grose joined Domingo in the final few minutes to pick-up points for Pirates but not enough to overcome the deficit, 40-28 at half-time.

The second half saw new momentum from the Pirates side as Lance Davidas pushed the pace down the court, catching Southern in transition and allowing for a 11-point individual run that brought his side right back into contention.

Hand again came to the rescue though, with some quick cuts and swings putting the ball into his hands outside the arc for a trio of three-pointers that was capped with a shot fake drive which drew a foul on the lay-up.

Having scored the lay-up basket he calmly sank the free-throw as well for another three-point play - and a 12-point individual performance - that gave Phoenix a 13-point lead at the end of the third 58-45.

The fourth saw both teams work hard on offence, breaking through with some nice drive and dish options as well as quick swings round the perimeter.

Pirates did a solid job of containing Hand, but it left the door open for Phoenix to spread their scoring as Connor Moughtin, Michael Pardoe and Joey Szetu all stepped up. Davidas and Domingo continued to feature for Pirates on the drive and mid-range but couldn’t build the momentum needed to overcome Phoenix lead.

With the final buzzer Southern had extended their lead to 17 points and took the game, 73-56.

A well-drilled DGU Jets took down Cannons Elite in the second game of the evening, as league veteran Paul Kilic put down an early marker with three swish three-pointers in the opening three minutes.

Jets ran a solid cutting offence around the paint, regularly finding the free space at the top of Cannons’ zone defence or the hand-off pass to the short corner on the drive. The combo saw them fly high on a solid 18-point lead at half-time, 39-21.

Cannons Elite struggled to create on offence at the start of the game and relied on outside shooting over the top of a physical Jets defence. They found some success in the second half with aggressive drives from Raf Turla and Rowan Coulter.

A key highlight came late in the game with a solid crash from Coulter that led to a series of drive and dishes that collapsed the defence and got the ball back into Coulter’s hands for a nice mid-range.

Jets were never in danger though, winning 83-49 at the buzzer.

The final match-up of the night saw a solid win for Cavaliers over Hoops.

The latter started strong with outside shooting from Danielle Murphy and inside play by Gemma Kirkham seeing them match Cavaliers basket for basket, keeping within four points in the first few minutes of the third.

Cavaliers managed to slowly build a lead as the third wore on though and an explosive fourth quarter saw six three-pointers rain down and an explosion of fast breaks that powered them to an 85-47 victory.

Thursday sees another full roster for the D2 Development League and the Senior League before basketball breaks for Christmas.

Tipping off at 6pm, the D2 league is open to all players aged 14-18 and players can sign up as free agents with a team assigned on the night.

Games run until 8.30pm each week with a round robin tournament scheduled for the end of the season which will crown the first D2 Championship team.

On the senior side, Pirates will face Cavaliers in the first game of the night, tipping off at 7pm. Then at 8.30pm there will be a double header with a fast-paced match-up between Southern Phoenix and Cannons, while Wolves will look to get back to winning ways as they face a well-drilled Hoops.

All games are held in the NSC main hall with courtside seating available for spectators who wish to attend.

As part of the build-up to the 2029 Island Games, Isle of Man Basketball Association continues to trial new stats programs, allowing detailed insights into each team and player in the basketball league.

Recap pages for every game this season can be found on the association website - www.isleofmanbasketball.com – with key insights on fouls, free throws, and box scores for each team.

Supporters can also follow the progress of their favourite players with individual player pages that chart their key statistics and progress throughout the season.

Available statistics will continue to evolve as the season continues as part of the association’s commitment to providing full professional insights into every game played in the 2029 Island Games.

MARTIN DUNNE