Crusaders go down to Newcastle

The Central Coast Crusaders travelled up the M1 to face rivals the Newcastle Falcons on Saturday, May 18.

The Crusaders women had their first real brush with the league’s top competition in their matchup against the 9-1 Falcons.

The Crusaders showed up early in the match with Leilani Mitchell leading the way as they took the first quarter by one point.

The competition remained deadlocked coming out of half-time as the Crusaders fought valiantly in front of the away crowd.

The fourth quarter is where Newcastle’s dominance began to show as they held the Crusaders to just 18 points, taking the victory 90-78.

Mitchell’s impressive 30-point performance was overshadowed by the combined 59 points of Isla Juffermans and the league’s second leading scorer Nicole Munger.

It was a minor speedbump for the women in an otherwise fantastic start to the season as they remain in fifth place on the ladder behind a stacked top four.

The men were up next, taking on the 13th placed Falcons which would prove not to be such an easy task on Newcastle’s home court.

The Crusaders dropped an early lead going into halftime 40-36.

The Crusaders went on to get up over the Falcons in the third quarter but once again it was the fourth and final quarter where they struggled.

The Falcons held them to just 12 points as the game slipped away from them in the dying moments, going down 77-68 in Newcastle.

The Crusaders finished the match shooting just 32.5 per cent from the field as a team.

Robbie Heath still put up an impressive 33 points and 8 rebounds.

The Crusaders men continue their dry streak, losing the last four games in a row, yet they remain in 12th spot on the ladder.

The Crusaders travel down to Canberra for a rematch with the Centre of Excellence on Saturday, May 25, before stopping in at Bankstown to take on the Bruins on Sunday, May 26, in this weekend’s away double-header.

The Crusaders women still have momentum on their side as the season is well and truly underway while the men will have to string together some wins on the road to keep their season alive.

Stefan Kataric