The Firepower Sydney Kings closed out their 2006 pre-season with a blowout 105-90 victory over the Wollongong Hawks in front of a typically maniacal crowd Saturday night at the Snakepit in Wollongong.

In a venue that was one of the original stadiums in the NBL and the site of some of the most intense and emotional battles between Sydney and Wollongong over the years.

The Kings took it to the Hawks early and never let up in what was by far their best performance of the pre-season, as they shot the ball well and played their trademark strong defence all night.

The Kings’ new trial import, Rodney Elliot, who only arrived Friday morning and went straight to training, watched from the sidelines as the Kings dominated their southern neighbours from start to finish.

The only negative to come out of the game was Ian Crosswhite’s injury. The Kings’ starting centre rolled his ankle early in the second quarter and will race against the clock to be ready to go for Sydney’s first game of the season this coming Friday in Townsville.

Sydney was led by Mark Worthington’s 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and Jason Smith played well in what will be his only preseason game, contributing 18 points including three triples. EJ Rowland was solid and composed for his 17 points and four assists, while David Barlow and Luke Kendall both had 10.

Wollongong got 22 points and nine rebounds from bench forward Casey Frank and 22 points, four assists and four boards from import point guard Cortez Groves.

Hawks’ captain Glen Saville played just 11 minutes, and fouled out early in the final period with no points on just one field goal attempt in a game he’ll want to quickly forget.

Both teams looked to run from tipoff, but Sydney got out of the blocks quicker than the home team. Barlow got things started with a typically strong move to the rack for two, and when Kendall cleaned up a Rowland free throw miss, the Kings had jumped out to an early 8-3 lead.

Sydney’s defence was all over Wollongong, forcing the Hawks into numerous turnovers, and Groves was the sole Hawk doing any damage, with a pair of long range bombs the only points early for his team as Sydney jumped out 14-6 with seven minutes left in the period.

Adam Ballinger stepped up with a pair of buckets to keep Wollongong close, but Sydney maintained control with a 21-12 lead late in the quarter.

Russell Hinder then came off the bench for a tough three point play and swished a corner three down the stretch as the Kings went to the first break with a solid 29-19 lead.

Crosswhite continued his impressive form with a strong inside move for the deuce as we got the second period underway, and when Mark Worthington powered for the three point play Sydney had themselves a 34-20 lead with less than three minutes gone.

Goorjian exhorted his players to get up and in defensively and they responded accordingly. The Hawks couldn’t deal with the pressure, and a 7-0 run keyed by Wortho got the team out to a massive 41-22 lead as a visibly frustrated Hawk coach Brendan Joyce called for time.

Worthington was dominant all over the floor, and when he hit one of two from the foul line he had amassed 12 in the quarter and Sydney led 45-30 with five minutes remaining in the half.

Smith nailed a three in transition to keep Sydney’s boot firmly planted on Wollongong’s throat, and with two minutes left the Kings had a massive 50-30 advantage.

The Hawks tried to mount a comeback late in the half, but thanks to another triple from the Captain, Sydney went to the main break well in control, leading 56-38.

Worthington had 14 points on 5 of 7 shooting from the field to lead the Kings at the half, and Rowland was a solid contributor with 8 points and 4 assists, while Groves had 14 for Wollongong and Ballinger six points and nine rebounds.

After a halftime blast from Coach Joyce, the Hawks came out with more purpose to open the third quarter, with five straight points cutting into the Sydney lead. But a steal and bucket from EJ kept the margin at a solid 15, 58-43, with two minutes gone.

Groves was proving unstoppable and exploded for six straight points as the Hawks tried to fight back, getting the margin back to single figures briefly before Rowland came up with consecutive steals and the Prototype went strong to the rack for two to push the Sydney lead back out to 15.

To their credit, the Hawks’ bench tried to keep their team in touch with a three point play from Frank and a corner three from Ben Castle giving the home fans some joy, but the Captain nailed another triple and the Kings were solidly in control with four minutes left in the quarter up 76-59.

Worthington hit an impossible falling out of bounds three pointer as the shot clock expired and Brad Sheridan had a pair of free throws to push the lead out to 19 before Castle and John Philip had back to back threes in an attempt to keep Wollongong close.

However, BJ Carter swished a pair of late threes, and despite Groves finishing the scoring for the quarter with a nice floater in traffic, Sydney went to the final break with a comfortable 86-70 lead.

The torture continued for Wollongong as the fourth quarter got underway, with Rowland and Kendall both hitting threes to give Sydney their biggest lead of the ballgame, 92-70, with two minutes gone, and it looked like a blowout in the making.

But once again, Wollongong’s bench stood up, and Frank and Castle worked hard at both ends of the floor as Sydney’s lead was cut to 15 midway through the period.

But that was close as the Hawks would get as Goorj went deep into his bench, and with Smith leading the way, Sydney powered away for the morale boosting W.

The Captain spoke afterwards about the impressive victory.

“I thought the effort was great tonight, and we executed well at both ends”, he said. “We played with a level of intensity that Wollongong just couldn’t deal with, and it’s a great situation for us when all 12 guys contribute like they did in this game”.

Smith was also happy with his own performance despite the fact he hasn’t played for some time.

“Mate, I haven’t touched a ball in over a week, but I felt really good on the floor”, he said. “The shot felt good, my fitness was okay, and I’m looking forward to getting the season underway”.

Sydney now has a week to get ready for their opening game of the 2006/07 Philips Championship against the Crocodiles in Townsville, followed by the home season opener against the Brisbane Bullets at the Kingdome next Sunday, September 24.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not neccessarily reflect those of the NBL