Wolves U-16 girls retuned to the top of the NBL South Premier table after beating leaders Ipswich 70-55 at Oaklands, on Saturday.
Led by 21 first half points from Caitlin Ryan, the hosts were in dominant form in the opening two periods as they rushed into a 44-21 lead going into the locker room.
Ryan finished with a 26 point, 13 rebound, 11 assist triple double - the first of her career and also added five assists and 3 blocks while Stella Ekblad-Piscatelli added 15 points and three boards. Meanwhile Lileth Harkness had seven rebounds and four steals to go with her 14 points.
After taking a 25-12 lead into the first break, and they continued to pile on the pressure as Ryan scored 12 straight points to open the second period and Ekblad-Piscatelli's basket gave Tor Freeman's team a 24-point half-time lead.
Ipswich started the second half well and cut their deficit to 58-39 at the final break but they could only slice three more points off the margin as Wolves closed out their tenth win in 13 games.
The teams are due to meet on the penultimate weekend of the season in what is potentially a title-deciding game.
Meanwhile both boys' NBL teams suffered defeats on Saturday afternoon with the U-16s going down 84-60 at Baltic Stars II and the U-14 boys losing 68-58 at home against Ipswich.
Daniel Kostadinov again led Adam Pearce's side, finishing with 17 points and four rebounds. Milic Pavic and Josh Brooks each chipped in with eight points, adding seven and four boards respectively while Lanre Pratt had ten rebounds to go with his seven points and four assists.
Wolves trailed 20-13 at the first break before the Lithuanian side extended their lead to 42-25 at half-time. The teams shared 40 second period points before Stars wrapped up the win with a 22-15 final frame.
Having lost by 45 when they visited Ipswich, the under-14s produced a much better performance, with only a poor third period preventing them coming away with a win.
Wolves shaded the first period 16-15 before Ipswich did likewise in the second quarter to leave the game tied at 31 going into the locker room at half-time. A 26-16 third period saw Ipswich pull away before the teams shared 22 final quarter points.
Otis Lau-Johnston led the hosts with 17 points, seven rebounds, six steals, three assists and two blocks, while Jacob Edrupt added seven points and Seth Coetzee had a massive 20 boards to go with his six points.
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