The Ringwood Hawks took care of two important goals on Sunday afternoon. The first was to beat a hungry McKinnon Cougars who were fighting for their playoff lives, and the second was to seal top spot. The Hawks put a tick in each column.

If the Cougars thought they were ready to challenge the Hawks, they pretty quickly they learned it was going to be a very tough battle. With the chance to secure top spot and home court advantage throughout the play offs, the Hawks were merciless from tip off.

Matt Fennell (16 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals) dominated the first quarter of the game and helped his team build an incredible early lead. The Hawks hit shots from all over the court and put up 41 points in the first ten minutes and led by 24 points at quarter time.

The Cougars looked shell shocked and tried to recover in the second quarter, but the Hawks defense went up a notch and the visitors continued to fall further behind. Scottie Stone (23 points) and Matt Snowball (17 points) scored at will and at half time the game was over. The Hawks lead was 34 points.

The massive lead allowed the Hawks to sub freely for the rest of the game and give youngsters Yuot Gai and Kaide Fittolani some valuable court time at the top level.

With just one game left in the season, the Hawks have secured a top spot finish, which according Matt Fennell was always one of the teams goals.

“It was a great performance today and we can put a tick against that home court in playoffs goal.” He said.

“But the playoffs present the toughest task and we must keep preparing for them.”

Next Saturday night the Hawks will host another Championship contending team, the Eltham Wildcats. The Wildcats will be ready to go as they have plenty to play for; a possible top two finish. The Hawks will also be taking the opportunity during this game to honor all the junior coaches who do so much great work for the Community. All the junior Coaches in attendance will receive a gift of thanks. Game time is 8pm at the Rings.

RINGWOOD HAWKS 95 (Stone 23, Snowball 17, Fennell 16, Gibson 11, Clarke 9, Latham 7, Osborne and Fittolani 5) defeated McKINNON COUGARS 81 at The Rings, Ringwood.

Click here to watch a replay of the game, with commentary from Matt Hickey and Russell Lee.
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