The Echuca Pirates have started their Country Basketball League season with a bang, destroying the Mansfield Eagles in round one.
After moving from the north-west men’s division at the end of last season to north-east, the Pirates would be unfamiliar with their new competition.
However, that didn’t stop them from coming out firing against Mansfield.
Echuca’s Tyler Phillips’ made his intentions known in the first moments of the game by splashing a three to start proceedings.
Mansfield’s Ben Les scored the first four points for his side, before Echuca’s Oscar Jones and Ben Dri replied with a pair of slick moves.
The Pirates darted to a 12-4 lead when Mansfield called a timeout to try and stop the bleeding, but a timely three kept the Eagles at bay.
A late surge from Mansfield left the scores at 21-16 in favour of the Pirates at quarter-time.
Echuca’s Dylan Hoare and Lachlan Tenace got busy early and lifted their side to a promising start early, with Phillips joining in the fun.
Sharpshooter Regan Smith hit another big-time three-pointer to add to the deluge, resulting in another timeout call by Mansfield mid-way through the second term, the difference now 17.
After the short rest, Mansfield got a little momentum but was unable to stem Echuca’s flow, the Pirates seemingly unable to miss, blowing out the game at half-time, the score now 50-28.
Following the major break, Echuca got on top of Mansfield once again, scoring six points in two minutes and threatening to run away with the game before Mansfield’s Patrick Mahoney netted a triple to buy his side some time.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, the Pirates were sailing at this point. Echuca scored nine points in the few minutes that followed, and the Eagles appeared dead and buried.
A halt in scoring saw the third term peter out, but the disparity was now so large that the outcome was all but assured, Mansfield trailed by 36 with a quarter to play.
With both sides showing signs of fatigue, the Pirates didn't hit their stride again until a few minutes into the final frame, where Regan Smith nailed this third three of the game.
Mansfield had a productive stretch through the middle of the game with Adam Storer, Jesse King and Bowen McCarthy all contributing well.
Meanwhile, Echuca had its quietest period of play, scoring just 16 in the fourth quarter, mainly because it was confident the game had already been won in the middle periods.
The Eagles were still outscored 11-16 down the stretch to lose by a staggering 41 points. The final score was Echuca Pirates 88 to Mansfield Eagles 47.
Phillips tops scored in the match with 18 points, while Dylan Payne produced a nice cameo of 14 points and Regan Smith netted 10 points.
The Pirates will now return home to face Wodonga Wolves on Saturday, October 12. Jump ball is scheduled for 6pm.