Storm gaze from top as Crystal crash

Kinjarling Storm moved to the top of the Albany Basketball Association women’s A-grade ladder after downing Crystal Blues by four points on Tuesday night.

Kinjarling led 19-14 at half-time and kept Crystal Blues at bay in the second half as they held on to win, 34-30.

Kinjarling scored the first six buckets of the game before Crystal Blues reduced the margin to three midway through the first half.

Six of the last nine points went the way of Kinjarling as they took a five point advantage into half-time.

Abbi Gibson was the star for Kinjarling as they responded to every challenge Crystal Blues put up, moving one point clear on top of the ladder after the tight result.

Gibson top scored with 14 points while Jade Dimer added eight for Kinjarling while Valerie Corbett hit four threes on her way to a game-high 15 points for Crystal Blues.

Raiders under-18s produced a stunning 45-minute game to hand last year’s grand finalists Panthers their first loss of the season.

Raiders led by five points at the break before Panthers hit the lead 10 minutes into the second half.

Panthers quickly extended the buffer to five points but the young Raiders fought their way back to level terms before a Dimer lay-up gave back Raiders the advantage.

A basket and two late free throws from Casey Greay gave Panthers a sniff but clutch triples from Casey Griffiths and Corbett ensured Raiders hung on to win.

Corbett was terrific for Raiders, top scoring with 18 points including four from long range while Dimer added 16 in a strong support act as their side won, 53-49.

Kayla Thomas and Ella Scamozzi led the way for Panthers with 14 and 11 points respectively.