,Wolves wary of falling prey to Owls

Wolves will be hoping to bounce back against Barking Owls tonight after a disappointing round 1 loss to Dugites last week in the Albany Basketball Association men’s A-grade competition.

After landing two of Albany’s brightest young players over the off-season — Matt Leary and John Murray — Wolves struggled to find a groove in their opening round clash, albeit without Leary. But they have their work cut out as they come up against last year’s grand finalists in Owls. Leary is expected to return to the line-up tonight after sitting out the opening round with a calf complaint.

Owls put in a solid performance against Ambassadors last Tuesday, with Joel Bellinger-Brown and veteran Justin Benson doing most of the damage, and look set to be in contention for another premiership in the new season.

Last year’s premiers, Raiders under-18 development squad, open their season against Crabs at 6pm without last season’s two most influential players.

With Leary and Murray now playing for Wolves, Raiders have lost their scoring punch. Together the pair poured in nearly 400 points last season and coach Darren Berry will need to fill the void if they are to go back-to-back.

Crabs suffered a nine-point defeat at the hands of Tigers last week and will be hoping to expose the young Raiders side in their match-up.

In the other fixture Tigers will look to win their second game in a row as they come up against Ambassadors at 8pm.

In the women’s A-grade competition a top-of-the-table clash between Magpies and Flames will headline the fixtures as both teams will be hoping to remain unbeaten.

Magpies thumped Panthers by 20 points last Tuesday while Flames notched a convincing 13-point win over Sparks, so both will be brimming with confidence.

Men’s A-grade

Raiders v Crabs 6pm

Barking Owls v Wolves 7pm

Ambassadors v Tigers 8pm

Women’s A-grade

Raiders v Panthers 6pm

Magpies v Flames 7pm

Grammar v Sparks 8pm