Taipans fall in high scoring derby

In their second game without Sam Waardenburg (hand), AK Gak (knee) and Dillon Stith (knee), the Taipans walked into the Brisbane Entertainment Centre for the first time since January 2019 to face their state rivals.

Kicking off their night by draining two successive shots from deep through Taran Armstrong and Rob Edwards, Cairns hit the scoreboard quickly but struggled to outrebound the locals – allowing the Bullets to pile on the points quickly.

Re-entering the starting lineup for the third game in his career – his second time against Brisbane – Alex Higgins-Titsha joined his teammates in draining a three to inspire a quick barrage from the Taipans.

Firing off on a 14-0 run, Cairns built out a lead in the high scoring opening term with Kyrin Galloway providing an explosive punch off the bench at both ends of the court. Despite the Bullets quickly answering back, the visitors finished the first quarter with a narrow one-point lead.

No easy buckets on Galloway's watch 😤

📲 @cairnstaipans | 📺 @espn pic.twitter.com/xJtTXE6Aab

— Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) December 20, 2024

After not missing his opening four shots to put up a quick 10 points in the first quarter without a chance to rest, Pedro Bradshaw earned himself a minute on the bench before immediately returning to action to help his teammates.

Opening the night by being comfortably out-hustled on the glass, the Taipans regrouped to swing the momentum in their favour, with the trio of Tanner Groves, Bradshaw and Higgins-Titsha leading the rebounding across the court to maintain the lead.

Answering straight back, the Bullets reeled in the Taipans – allowing them to hold onto the narrow lead whilst once more taking control of the rebounding.

Utilising their advantage on the glass, the bench unit of Rocco Zikarsky and Josh Bannan ensured that Cairns’ lead didn’t last for long as Brisbane closed the gap with the first half coming to a close, as a late shot from Keandre Cook handed them a two-point lead at the break.

Working into the paint once they returned to the court, the Bullets looked to find efficient shots to retain their lead, a quest that initially yielded positive results before Bradshaw hit back-to-back triples to regain the lead.

With neither team able to grab hold of the high scoring contest, Casey Prather decided to take the challenge on himself. Entering the matchup averaging 27 points since the FIBA break, the forward quickly flew up to 28 points with a quarter of action still remaining.

As Cairns slowly reeled in the hosts, Armstrong took a well-earned rest – making way for the experienced hand of Kyle Adnam to guide the Taipans into the final break with a single-point deficit.

Trading bucket for bucket, the two sides struggled to take control of the game with their stars running into foul trouble and Brisbane losing import James Batemon with a hamstring complaint.

As the Bullets slowly inched the lead towards double digits, Groves and Higgins-Titsha refused to bow down – launching a trio of shots from deep to pull the lead back to two points with seconds left on the clock.

However, with the pair fouling out, a half court heave fell to Edwards who couldn’t send the game to overtime despite Cairns putting up their highest score across this season.

Once more leading the Taipans on the offensive end, Rob Edwards ended his night with 27 points, five rebounds and two dimes, with fellow guard Taran Armstrong also putting up 16 points, five assists, two boards and two steals.

Finishing the game with his highest total since arriving in Australia, Pedro Bradshaw contributed 22 points alongside five rebounds, two assists and a block with the American hitting four triples across the night.

LOCKED IN FROM RANGE 🎯

Pedro hits back-to-back triples!

📲 @cairnstaipans | 📺 @espn pic.twitter.com/KviRX54ylR

— Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) December 20, 2024

Both scoring 12 points across the night, Alex Higgins-Titsha also added six boards to his new career-high across 25 minutes of action, whilst Tanner Groves wrapped up his performance with 10 rebounds to reach a double-double, as well as four assists and a steal.

"I knew that we always going to be battling the size with AK and Sam missing, but I can't fault the boys efforts – they really got after it, it was just unfortunate that even that last possession was off the back of an offensive rebound," explained Taipans Head Coach Adam Forde.

"This is one of the positives, where this is Alex's first season in the NBL. He's only played eight games, and I think he started three of them now, and that's not by design – his first year with us was supposed to be a learning curve and maybe he gets some junk time at the end of the game. But with the guys out, you get thrown in the deep end, and he was great.

"Tanner was massive for us, not just throughout the game but also in that fourth quarter where Brisbane started getting the momentum. I thought that Tanner did a great job of bringing us back into the fold with not only the three-pointer that he hit, but he was drawing fouls and getting rebounds, so that was important.

"Taran is not a guy that is going to quit regardless of winning or losing, being up or being down, and when we roll into work on Monday, he's not taking any shortcuts because he is the ultimate competitor.

"And so this is what I love the most about this group – they're not a bunch of old heads that are now just collecting a paycheck, rolling in and going through the motions. We still do film, we still do vitamins, we still get in and no-one sits out of practice. We're just gonna keep competing and fighting because that's what this group has committed to me."

The Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans now return to the Far North ahead of Christmas, before hitting the court the next day for Boxing Day. They’ll face Melbourne United in their first of two holiday fixtures to round out the year, with the action starting at 6:30pm – tickets available HERE.