IT was a tough start to the Hamilton Hurricanes’ CBL season, returning to the court for senior representative games after a four-year hiatus, going down in both games at HILAC at the weekend.

Sunday’s game against Portland looked to be a game the home side could pinch, in front of a large and vocal crowd, but the Hurricanes struggled to match the output of the Coasters to go down, 69-94.

Hamilton started strong, opening the scoring and getting the crowd involved, with Josh Miller and Sam Brewer both hitting baskets in the early minutes.

Nathan Hardingham was a strong presence for Portland and helped steady the ship for the visitors, drawing level at 8-8.

Back-to-back threes to James Cleaver and Miller saw Hamilton edge clear again, before Portland rallied late to take a 26-23 lead into quarter time.

A maximum from Sam Brewer in the first 20 seconds saw the scores level again, before both teams traded baskets, with the Coasters going into the main break leading by seven points.

Hardingham grabbed the game by the throat, putting up 14 points in the third quarter to help the Coasters to a 20-point lead at the final break, as the visitors went on to win by 25 points.

Josh Miller impressed for the home side, putting up 19 points, while Hardingham finished with a game-high 35.

Hurricanes co-coach, Scott Miller, told The Spectator after the game he was impressed with the way each player in the squad contributed.

“We are very happy, with a young side and have played two of the top sides probably,” he said.

“Today’s game was impressive, they got the lead in the third but we hung around.

“It got out to 30 at one stage and we worked hard and got it back to 25 in the end, and a few of the young guys got minutes as well and they all scored.

“We were a few bigs down, so we are playing undersized, but we are fighting hard.”

The first half was much more competitive in both games, with the Hurricanes dropping off as the game went on.

“Not so much the fitness, just the mental and the clock stopping, things like that,” Scott Miller said.

“A couple of our boys went down and watched Portland last weekend, we did stop some of their systems early.

“Our defence and workrate was good, no real standouts though, the guys we expect to get the points did as well.

“There is plenty to work on, but Dean (Le Roy – co-coach) and myself are very impressed, coming off a loss last night, to really dig in today was pleasing.”

The weekend started with an outing against Warrnambool on Saturday night, with the Hurricanes putting up 18 points in the first term to the Seahawks’ 26, before the margin stretched out to 13 points by half time.

It was the second half where the visitors did the bulk of the scoreboard damage, outscoring the Hurricanes 53-20 to run away decisive 102-56 winners.

The Hurricanes will learn plenty from the two games and will suit up again for another home game on Sunday when they host the Horsham Hornets in round three action.