Basketball: Setback for Slammers

An ankle injury will not keep marquee signing Zoe Harper out of the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers’ women’s side’s opening State Basketball League fixture in a fortnight.

Picture: Four-time Willetton Tigers’ premiership player Zoe Harper shows off her new Slammers’ singlet at a club function earlier this week.

Harper, who left reigning champions Willetton to join the Slammers over summer, injured her right ankle during a Pre-Season Blitz clash against Perry Lakes on Saturday.

She limped from the court and played no further part in the two-day competition, but coach Darren Austin insisted the 24-year-old would be fit by round one.

Harper waswalking gingerly on the joint at the club’s singlet presentations on Tuesday night.

While Harper is expected to take part in the Slammers’ opening round bout with East Perth on March 24, Austin will be a notable absentee from South West’s early season fixtures.

He will be overseas for the first three weeks of his side’s 2012 campaign.

The coach, who moved from Queensland to take over the Slammers’ women’s program during the off-season, insisted the squad could excel while he was away.

‘‘Hopefully we’re going to be three weeks better,’’ Austin said.

‘‘Our assistant coaches Neale Stallard and Trina Worthington can definitely do the job, and those girls, I feel very confident that if things get tough that they have got the decision making ability to get us some wins.’’

Harper, who brings with her the experience of four SBL championships, said the side was well placed to begin the season in winning form, despite Austin’s absence.

‘‘We have two amazing assistant coaches that can step up,’’ she said.

‘‘We’ve got two imports, as well as Kara Hargreaves along with myself,whocan definitely lead the team.

‘‘Hopefully in the games that he is gone, we can get four or five wins.’’

The Pre-Season Blitz was enormously successful for both Slammers’ women’s and men’s sides, who finished the competition undefeated.

The women beat Kalamunda, Perry Lakes, the State Country Under 18s and Rockingham, while the men beat Goldfields, the State Country Under 18s and Stirling and drew with Cockburn.