Boomer Wessels swats Tall Blacks into series defeat

• Australia won game two of the Trans-Tasman Throwdown, beating the Tall Blacks 92-67 at the Sunshine Coast
• Xavier Cooks looked rejuvenated for the Boomers with 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists
• Taylor Britt led the scoring for the Tall Blacks with 19 points

Young Boomers centre Harry Wessels has shown Australia's big man stocks are deeper than some may think after impressing again to help his team take game two of the Trans-Tasman Throwdown series with a 92-67 win at UniSC Arena at the Sunshine Coast.

The St Mary's Gaels talent, who recently finished his third year under Randy Bennett, anchored the Boomers defence alongside Sydney Kings star Xavier Cooks as Australia suffocated the Tall Blacks for the full quarters, holding them to just 36% shooting from the field.

Wessels and his experienced front court partner, Cooks, dominated the paint with the Western Australian product showing the ability to stay in front of quicker guards, even when being forced to switch defensively, while also protecting the rim with three blocks, impacting more attempts around the basket and also recording three steals and adding seven points to his stat line.

Much like the series opener in Adelaide on Wednesday, the Boomers struggled to find rhythm on the offensive end in the first quarter but as is the case with most Dan Vickerman coached teams, it didn't matter as Australia's chemistry defensively made it tough for New Zealand to create any easy opportunities, scoring just 10 points compared to the home side's 18.

Australia looked much more clinical in the second quarter, led by Dejan Vasiljevic and Angus Glover, who both made their mark from the three-point line to extend the lead past double digits. Add more perimeter firepower from veteran Todd Blanchfield as well as Wessels and Cooks finishing inside the key and the Boomers appeared to be running away with the victory with a 42-28 lead at halftime.

But the third quarter belonged to Tall Blacks guard and recently signed New Zealand Breaker Taylor Britt. The Canterbury Rams star in the NZNBL created havoc after halftime, tearing apart Australia's pick and roll defence with his crafty playmaking ability before he was able to knock down two threes on his way to 16 points by three-quarter time and have the visitors right back in the game trailing 60-50 at the final break.

However, in true Wessels style for this series, the young gun gave the Boomers some momentum to go into the fourth quarter with, rejecting Britt's layup attempt to finish the third quarter.

New Zealand were not going away, making an early run in the final quarter to reduce the deficit to just seven points before a triple from Brisbane Bullets skipper Mitch Norton and a tough finish from Wessels forced Tall Blacks coach Judd Flavell to call a timeout down 12 points with six minutes remaining. From there, it was all Boomers who ran away with a 25-point win to bounce back from a scrappy performance in game one.

Cooks looked rejuvenated in a Boomers uniform and was everywhere on both ends, dominating the offensive glass with six offensive rebounds on his way to 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Boomers coach Dean Vickerman said his team focused on stripping back some of their preparation and simplifying their points of focus both defensively and offensively after game one.

He also praised the work of Cooks and Wessels and their effort on the boards, saying he was impressed with how his young big "loves contact".

Flavell said he was pleased with some patches of his team's performance but they gave up too many offensive rebounds and points off turnovers to compete with Australia.

Game three is in Hamilton, NZ on Sunday afternoon.