Tough season gets tougher for Slammers

Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers’ import Carlos White has returned to the United States for family reasons with seven games remaining in the SBL season.

Coach Greg Worthington confirmed White’s departure this week, saying the club had released the 31-year-old for family reasons. He left Bunbury on Tuesday.

Worthington said the decision to allow White to cut short his contract with the club had not been taken lightly, but senior players understood the move.

‘‘He’s had some family issues and seeing as we can’t make the finals we’ve released him to go home and deal with that,’’ Worthington said.

‘‘We gave him the option and he decided to take that up.’’

The power forward’s absence means there will be an enormous hole on the court this Saturday night, when the Slammers take on reigning champions Willetton.

White, who at 202cm tall and 111kg had significant on-court presence, proved himself to be unstoppable against most opposition this year.

He averaged over 22 points and 12 rebounds in his 18 appearances with the Slammers in 2012, including a season-high haul of 37 points against Goldfields in April.

In round five, White showed just how damaging he could be when he played a marathon 46 minutes and brought down 26 boards as the Slammers defeated Kalamunda 81-68.

The Slammers will come up against a conf ident Wanne roo s ide , who moved level with Lakeside at the top of the SBL ladder after a pair of victories at the weekend.

When the Slammers took on Wanneroo in round nine, they crashed to a 124-83 defeat.

‘‘We’ll just try and instil confidence in our guys to stick with their plan,’’ Worthington said.

‘‘Wanneroo are great at hurrying teams up and making them play at a quicker speed to what they are capable of.

‘‘We’ve just got to take that into account and fight fire with fire. Instead of being passive we’ve got to be aggressive against them and turn the pressure back on to them.’’

Meanwhile, the Slammers women’s side will he ad into Sa turday night ’ s game against the Wolves with their sights set on consolidating top spot on the WSBL ladder.

The Slammers, who had a bye at the weekend, are one win clear in first place with a game in hand.

Wanneroo are sixth on the ladder — but are on a six-match losing streak and have not tasted victory since they defeated the Slammers 80-75 in round nine.