Wildcats douse Blaze

The Perth Wildcats opened their account for the season in emphatic fashion beating the Gold Coast Blaze 94-80 at Challenge Stadium on Friday night.

Perth lost its first two games of the season in disappointing style but responded with an impressive 14-point victory, while the loss keeps the Blaze at the foot of the NBL ladder.

The Blaze shot just 35 per cent from the field and 25 per cent from three-point range and that was never going to be enough against a Wildcats team that nailed 12-from-23 from long distance and 50 per cent from the field.

Only Shane Heal stood up to ensure the Blaze weren't completely blown away scoring 28 points, 24 of which came in the second half.

After scoring just 18 points in his first two games with the Cats, Darnell Hinson was terrific with 12 points and 11 assists. Isiah Victor had two good first games and was solid once again with 20 points.

Peter Crawford was also quiet in the two losses to the Dragons and responded with 17, with star forwards Alex Loughton and Shawn Redhage providing the back bone of the win as they did all of last season.

Heal was the only real spark with 15 of his 28 coming from long range. James Harvey chimed in with 16, Casey Frank worked hard as always for 11 points and six boards, as did Ben Melmeth for six and eight.

The Wildcats (1-2) now have a five-day break before hosting the Wollongong Hawks on Wednesday ahead of four road matches in seven days.

The Blaze (0-3) have a quiet fortnight ahead with their next game on Thursday at the Gold Coast Convention Centre against the South Dragons, with eight days then until hosting the winless Sydney Spirit.

Perth Wildcats 94 (Victor 20, Crawford 17, Redhage 13)
Gold Coast Blaze 80 (Heal 28, Harvey 16, Frank 11)
@ Challenge Stadium, Perth; 26/09/08. Crowd: approx 4000