The game was the first to be played at the Lazerdome since the passing of Lithgow Basketball matriarch and Life Member Rae Swift. A ceremony was held in her honour before the game where the Association officially announced that the stadium's new video scoreboard would now be known as the Rae Swift Memorial Scoreboard.

The afternoon was a celebration of Rae's life, more particularly her life in basketball, and her beloved Lazers rose to the occasion, playing their best half of the season to pile on a massive 70 points against the stunned Hawks.

Every Lazers player contributed, with many having their best games so far.

New American signing Darreon Tolliver, in his home debut, pulled down a dozen or more strong rebounds at both ends of the court and thrilled the crowd with two big hang-from-the-ring slam dunks.

The locals also had to overcome a caning in the foul count, being called for 28 to their opponents 13.

Meanwhile, Lithgow's injury woes continued, with Mitchell Brain out for several weeks following a badly sprained ankle suffered in the local Men's competition earlier in the week.

Illawarra jumped to a quick 5-0 lead in the first quarter, but Lithgow's rejigged starting side of Michael Johnson, Tolliver, Michael Cox, Adam Marjoram and Fletcher Swift soon tied it at 12.

The lead changed hands several times until the Lazers hit the front to stay at 31-29 before finishing the period up 37-31.

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The Lazers' outside shooting form had returned and they hit 13 shots to 4 from beyond the three-point arc, 11 of them coming in the first half, as the second stanza ended with the home side cheered off the court holding a healthy 70-48 advantage.

The Lithgow side went off the boil a little in the third period, as foul trouble forced coach David Swift to sit players for large chunks.

Bench players Kobe Hunter, Michael Brooks, Austyn Lincoln, Zeke Evans and especially Matt Hughes and Caleb Fitzpatrick, stepped up, and helped the Lazers maintain a 20-point buffer, 88-68.

The Hawks made a run get within 12 at 94-82 as Michael Johnson and later Matt Hughes were fouled out but the Lazers finished the stronger and recorded their highest total of the season to win 108-90. It was sweet revenge for the home side, with Illawarra having towelled up a badly depleted Lazers by almost 50 points a few weeks previous.

The Spalding Waratah League has a general bye for the Queen's birthday weekend and the following weekend the Lazers play host to the Wagga Heat on Saturday June 15 at the Lazerdome. Tip-off is at 4pm.

Results: Lithgow Lazers 108 (M Johnson 31, M Hughes 22, F Swift 17, D Tolliver 13, M Cox 12, C Fitzpatrick 8, A Marjoram 3, K Hunter 2) def Illawarra Hawks 90.

Pool A Standings: Shoalhaven 9 wins, 2 losses, Sutherland 9-2, Canberra 8-3, Illawarra 8-3, Lithgow 5-6, Bankstown 5-6, Queanbeyan 5-6, Wagga 3-8, Orange 2-9, Dubbo 1-10.

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