It was a Sunday of standout performances in the NBL1 South with Bec Cole putting up 36 points for the Waverley Falcons while Marena Whittle led the Ringwood Hawks to a big win, Keely Froling dominated for the Launceston Tornadoes and Dillon Stith sparked Waverley again with 33 points.
Sunday's NBL1 South Round 7 women's results saw the Waverley Falcons beat the Knox Raiders 93-85 while the Hobart Chargers defeated the Kilsyth Cobras 94-76, the Launceston Tornadoes beat the Sandringham Sabres 84-79, and the Diamond Valley Eagles defeated the Melbourne Tigers 81-61.
The Ringwood Hawks also defeated the Keilor Thunder 79-65 while the Dandenong Rangers downed the Nunawading Spectres 80-63.
The men's contests then saw the Falcons beat the Raiders 90-86, Cobras beat the Chargers 83-78, Sabres beat the North West Tasmania Thunder 100-68, Eagles defeat the Tigers 89-75, Ringwood beat Keilor 94-88, and Nunawading prevail 103-89 against Dandenong.
NBL1 SOUTH RECAP | SATURDAY ROUND 7
NBL1 SOUTH RECAP | FRIDAY ROUND 7
WOMEN
Cole puts up 36 as Falcons beat Raiders
The Waverley Falcons withstood a flying finish from the Knox Raiders at the State Basketball Centre to prevail 93-85 for a 10th win of the NBL South season.
Waverley was fresh off a 14-point win the previous night against the Ballarat Miners while Knox went down to the Frankston Blues by 11 coming into the Sunday clash.
The Falcons started well to open up a seven-point lead in the opening period and stretched that advantage out to 12 during the second before leading 45-36 at the half-time break.
Waverley pushed that advantage out to 21 in the third term and was still at that mark early in the fourth before Knox put on a big finish. That included scoring 10 straight points but the task was just too much with the Falcons holding on to win by eight.
The victory improves Waverley to a 10-1 record on the season with Knox slipping to 7-5 with two losses this weekend.
Bec Cole ultimately was the difference between the two teams as she finished with 36 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals for the game on 12/18 shooting from the floor, 4/8 from three-point territory and 8/9 at the free-throw line.
She had plenty of help in the starting group too with Amelia Todhunter contributing 15 points and five assists, Maddi Utti 15 points and seven boards, Carley Ernst 10 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals, and Renae Mokrzycki 10 points and eight boards.
Alicia Froling tried to lift the Raiders with 27 points, eight rebounds and five assists with Kiera Rowe contributing 21 points, six boards, three assists and two steals, Aneta Bandilovska 13 points and five assists, and Rachael Quirk 11 points and five assists.
Bec Cole is on ?
— NBL1 (@NBL1) May 21, 2023
She's up to 36 points here in the 4th as her Waverley Falcons lead Knox 91-77!
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Bradley, Steindl lift Chargers to second weekend win
With Paige Bradley and Kayla Steindl combining for eight three-pointers and 48 points, the Hobart Chargers made it a perfect weekend on the road with the 94-76 victory against the Kilsyth Cobras.
Hobart started the weekend away from home beating the Keilor Thunder on Saturday while Kilsyth also beat the Casey Cavaliers setting up the Sunday match up at Kilsyth Sports Centre.
The Cobras did start well at home but the Chargers took control in the second period and it was on the back of the efforts of Bradley and Steindl.
Hobart outscored Kilsyth 30 points to 14 in the second quarter and 22 to 10 in the third to lead by as much as 24 in the fourth period before going on to score the 18-point victory.
Hobart improves to 5-6 with the two wins this weekend while Kilsyth slips to 3-8 after splitting their Round 7 double.
Paige Bradley finished with 27 points, six assists and five rebounds for Hobart while knocking down 4/6 from three-point territory with Kayla Steindl contributing 21 points, 14 boards and three assists on 4/7 shooting from downtown.
Sarah O'Neill added 20 points and six rebounds, Angeliki Vintsilaiou 12 points, four boards and three assists, and Alexandra Finlayson eight points and five rebounds.
Alisia Jenkins did what she could to inspire Kilsyth with 18 points, 18 rebounds, five assists and two blocks with Isis Lopes adding 13 points and seven assists, Alexa Hart 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Nikita Young 12 points, four rebounds and two steals.
Froling fires Tornadoes to dominant second half
The Launceston Tornadoes produced a dominant second half to come from behind and with Keely Froling leading the charge with 39 points, 13 rebounds and seven steals, overran the Sandringham Sabres to win 84-79.
Launceston was staring down the barrel of a second loss for the weekend after losing to the Dandenong Rangers on Saturday while Sandringham also went down to the Mount Gambier Pioneers on Friday.
The Sabres started well at home on Sunday and led by as much as 12 points in the second and with 28 to 14 in the second term, they went into the half-time break on top 47-35.
However, the Tornadoes turned the tide in the second half and it was Froling at the front of it all as they outscored Sandringham 49 points to 32 after half-time to end up winning by five.
The victory improves Launceston to a 4-7 record on the season with Sandringham now 5-7 with the two losses in Round 7.
Keely Froling had a phenomenal game for Launceston finishing with 39 points, 13 rebounds and seven steals on 15/30 shooting from the field and 8/10 from the free-throw line.
Olivia West added 20 points and seven boards, Riley Lupfer 10 points, three steals and two boards, and Micah Simpson 10 points and two steals.
Funda Nakkasoglu put up 25 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals for Sandringham with Georgia Pineau contributing 17 points and seven boards, Britt Smart 11 points and eight rebounds, and Klara Wischer nine points, six boards, three steals and two assists.
Eagles beat Tigers to split weekend double
The Diamond Valley Eagles bounced back from their loss the previous night to beat the Melbourne Tigers on the road 81-61 on Sunday.
Diamond Valley went down at home on Saturday night to the unstoppable Bendigo Braves while the Tigers were playing their lone game of the weekend at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.
The Tigers did start well enough and were on top by two at quarter-time, but the Eagles took charge throughout the second quarter with a 10-0 run to end up on top 47-35 at the long break.
Diamond Valley went on with the job from there with another 34 points to 26 in the second half to claim the 20-point victory which improves them to a 6-5 record having split their weekend.
The Tigers are now 4-7 after being unable to back up their stunning win last weekend against the Knox Raiders.
Allison Day ended up leading the charge in the win for Diamond Valley with 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists while Monique Andriuolo contributed 11 points and six boards.
Sophie Byrnes also had 10 points and three rebounds, Jade Dunne nine points, five assists and four rebounds, Kara Tessari nine points and four assists, and Jennie Rintala eight points, 10 boards, four blocks and two assists.
Sam Simons ended up top-scoring for the Tigers with 14 points, 10 rebounds and four assists with Amy O'Neill adding 11 points, eight boards and six assists, Lily Carmody 10 points and six rebounds, and Nikki Metcalfe 10 points, four boards and two assists.
Whittle dominates for bounce back Ringwood win
The Ringwood Hawks bounced back from a Saturday night loss to start on fire and set up their 79-65 win against the Keilor Thunder.
Ringwood suffered a 21-point loss at the hands of the Eltham Wildcats the previous evening while Keilor also lost to the Hobart Chargers meaning both teams weren’t lacking motivation to bounce back on Sunday.
The reigning NBL1 South champion Hawks didn’t waste time making their statement, though, with 23 points to nine in the opening quarter.
From there, the Hawks went on to lead by 15 points at half-time, 16 at three quarter-time and to end up winning by 14 to end up improving to a 7-4 record as a result. Keilor is now 3-7 having lost twice this weekend.
Last year's Grand Final MVP Marena Whittle was dominant for Ringwood in the win with 33 points, 12 rebounds and four assists on 14/22 shooting from the floor to go with 2/4 three-point shooting and hitting 3/4 at the free-throw line.
Ariel Jones added 16 points and two assists, Zoe Jenkins nine points and four rebounds, and Piper Dunlop seven points and five boards.
Juna Umezawa delivered 15 points and 18 rebounds for Keilor with Eva Kristjansdottir contributing 16 points and eight boards, and Lana Hollingsworth 10 points and three assists.
Rangers make it double win weekend
The Dandenong Rangers made it two wins for the weekend and handed the Nunawading Spectres a second defeat with the 80-63 victory on Sunday.
Dandenong was coming off beating the Launceston Tornadoes on Saturday night while the Spectres suffering a 19-point defeat at the hands of the Geelong United Supercats.
Nunawading was desperate to get the bounce back win and started strongly with 29 points to 19 in the opening period.
The Spectres were still leading 32-31 at half-time, but extraordinarily they managed just two points the entire third quarter. The Rangers piled on 32 points themselves and that set them on the path to the 17-point victory.
Dandenong improved to 6-7 on the season with the victory while Nunawading slips to 5-7 with the two losses for Round 7.
Nyadiew Puoch is continuing to produce an outstanding run of form for the Rangers and had another 19 points, nine rebounds and three assists with Sarah Boothe contributing 19 points, 10 boards and two blocks.
Briahna Whatman added 16 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals, and Amber Smith 13 points, 10 boards and five assists.
Alice Kunek top-scored once more for Nunawading with 27 points, five rebounds and three steals with Emma Pearce contributing 16 points and nine boards, and Rachel Antoniadou 12 points, four assists and three steals.
Nyadiew Puoch with the block! ?
— NBL1 (@NBL1) May 21, 2023
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MEN
Stith leads Falcons to fifth straight victory
The Waverley Falcons overran the Knox Raiders at the State Basketball Centre on Sunday to continue their hot run of form with the 90-86 victory.
Both teams put their impressive winning streaks on the line to close Round 7 with the Raiders having made it six straight with the win over the Frankston Blues on Saturday night while the Falcons defeated the Ballarat Miners to make it four in-a-row.
Not in Dexter Kernich-Drew's ?
— NBL1 (@NBL1) May 21, 2023
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That set the stage for a mouth watering match up and it certainly delivered with no more than seven points ever separating the two teams the whole contest.
That seven-point lead was during the fourth quarter for the Raiders when they were on top by that margin with seven and-a-half minutes to play.
However, Waverley quickly scored the next four points through Tristan Forsyth and Dillon Stith before Dexter Kernich-Drew knocked down a three-pointer to tie scores up.
When Kernich-Drew hit another with four minutes on the clock, the Falcons had assumed the lead and from there would hold out the Raiders and score the four-point win.
The result means that Waverley had won five straight to sit on a 6-5 record with Knox's winning run ending for them to now be 8-4 at the end of Round 7.
Dillon Stith was outstanding once more for the Falcons as he tries to bang down the door for another NBL opportunity. He produced 33 points, four rebounds and two steals on 15/24 shooting from the field.
Dexter Kernich-Drew backed up his huge game from the night before with another 23 points and six assists with 4/6 three-point shooting while AJ Harris added 15 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Tristan Forsyth 12 points and six boards.
Wayne Stewart Jr top-scored once more for Knox with 23 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals with Ke'Jhan Feagin adding 16 points and six assists, Mason Peatling 11 points and five rebounds, and Deng Acouth 10 points and five boards.
Dillon Stith THROWDOWN ?
— NBL1 (@NBL1) May 21, 2023
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Ahale sparks Cobras to win over Chargers
A huge third quarter saw the Kilsyth Cobras overcome the Hobart Chargers with Jamie Ahale leading them to the 83-78 home victory on Sunday.
Kilsyth came into the match up at home on a six-game losing run including going down to the Casey Cavaliers the previous night with Hobart looking to back up its win from Saturday away to the Keilor Thunder.
The Chargers were building some momentum this season thanks to Grand Final MVP Sam McDaniel, and they began to pull away from Kilsyth in the second term and scoring 14 straight points saw them open up a 16-point advantage.
Hobart were still up by 10 during the third term, but the Cobras took over from there and went on their own 10-0 run to work back into it, and then finished the better to lead by as much as 11 and hold on for the five-point win.
The result improves Kilsyth to a 5-6 record with the six-game losing run ended while Hobart is now 6-5 in its championship defence.
Jamie Ahale produced a huge performance for Kilsyth with 28 points, nine rebounds and seven assists while Auryn MacMillan produced 17 points, eight boards, three assists and two blocks, and Adrian Tomada 11 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Jarred Bairstow finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks, Devin Watson 17 points, four assists and three boards, Sam McDaniel 15 points, eight assists and six rebounds, and Jacob Richards 12 points, 10 boards and five assists.
Ayre lifts to Sabres to another home victory
The Sandringham Sabres made it a double win weekend by beating the North West Tasmania Thunder 100-68 on Sunday.
The Sabres started their weekend beating the Mount Gambier Pioneers back on Friday night while North West Tasmania began their road double with a thrilling win against the Dandenong Rangers the previous evening.
It was a dominant performance by Sandringham at Southern Basketball Stadium but by half-time the Thunder were sticking with them with the Sabres only leading 54-43 at the half-time break.
Sandringham then outscored North West Tasmania 46 points to 25 in the second half on the way to the 32-point win to make it three straight wins to improve to an 8-4 record.
The Thunder now slip to 4-7 after splitting their weekend on the road.
Ben Ayre had a monster performance in Friday's win in Mount Gambier and backed it up on Sunday for Sandringham with another 27 points, six rebounds and four assists including going 11/11 at the free-throw line.
Campbell Blogg added 18 points and four rebounds, CJ Asuncion-Byrd 17 points and three rebounds, Dane Pineau 12 points and 18 boards, Tom Koppens 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Dave Barlow 10 points and three boards.
Sekou Sylla came up big after his heroics the night before for North West Tasmania with another 24 points and four rebounds with Venky Jois adding 20 points and seven boards, and Ben Woolley seven points and seven rebounds.
Eagles beat Tigers for second win of the round
The Diamond Valley Eagles made it a perfect weekend by knocking off the Melbourne Tigers 89-75 on Sunday at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.
The Tigers were playing their only game of Round 7 while Diamond Valley was fresh off beating the Bendigo Braves by 14 points the previous evening.
The Eagles kept their momentum going from the previous evening with 25 points to 20 in the opening quarter but then Melbourne caught fire in the second term with 31 to 17 to go into the half-time interval leading 51-42.
It was all Diamond Valley after the break, though, with the Eagles outscoring the Tigers 47 points to 26 to end up winning by 14 points to improve to a 7-4 record on the season.
The Tigers have now lost three in-a-row to sit at 4-7.
Mandrell Worthy ended the afternoon with 17 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Eagles with Erik Kafritsas contributing 17 points, Jock Perry 16 points and five rebounds, and BJ Symons 16 points and eight boards on 8/11 shooting.
Taj Chehhal delivered 23 points and two assists with 5/11 three-point shooting for the Tigers with Mason Gaze contributing 23 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals while also knocking down 4/7 from beyond the arc.
Hawks finished strongly to beat Thunder
The Ringwood Hawks came from behind and scored eight of the game's last 10 points to beat the Keilor Thunder 94-88 on Sunday.
Both teams were fresh off Saturday night losses with Keilor losing to the Hobart Chargers while Ringwood went down to the Eltham Wildcats so they were determined to respond on Sunday.
On their home floor, Keilor managed to open up a six-point lead by quarter-time and to still be leading by five at half-time.
It was always destined to be a thrilling finish and in the end with two minutes to play, scores were all level at 86-apiece.
From that point on, it was all Ringwood beginning with the go-ahead bucket to Jack Barry.
Kyle Daggett stretched the lead to four before Keilor's only score in the last two minutes from Zac Triplett. The Hawks responded with a finish from Matthew Roberts who then also nailed the clinching free-throws for the six-point triumph.
The result improves Ringwood to a 4-7 record on the season with Keilor now slipping to 4-6 with three straight losses.
Kyle Daggett ended the afternoon with 22 points and five rebounds for Ringwood on 9/13 shooting. Jonathan Lawton added 22 points, seven boards, six assists and five steals also on 9/13 shooting.
Matthew Fennell added 16 points and four boards, and Matthew Roberts seven points, six assists and five rebounds.
Oliver Hayes-Brown put up 24 points and six rebounds while going 10/14 from the field for Keilor with Robbie Heath contributing 20 points and nine boards, Zac Triplett 21 points, three rebounds and two assists.
Carius helps shoot Spectres to win over Rangers
The Nunawading Spectres proved too strong for the Dandenong Rangers thanks to a dominant second half in the eventual 103-89 Sunday road win.
Dandenong was back home and looking to avoid a 10th consecutive loss after going down to the North West Tasmania Thunder the previous evening while Nunawading also went down to the Geelong United Supercats.
It was a hot opening from both teams who combined for 55 points in the first quarter with the Spectres on top 31-24 by quarter-time.
It was then all the Rangers in the second quarter as they piled on 30 points to 16 to head into intermission leading the Spectres 54-47.
From there, it was all Nunawading in the second half as they outscored the Rangers 56 points to 35 to turn that seven-point deficit into the eventual 14-point victory.
With the win, the Spectres improve to 7-4 on the season at the end of Round 7 with the Rangers remaining in bottom spot at 2-11 with 10 consecutive defeats.
Will Carius was tremendous in the win for Nunawading with 30 points, eight rebounds and three assists while going 11/21 from the floor and 6/7 at the foul line.
Jalen Gibbs contributed 24 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals while Daniel Baxter ended up with 13 points and five rebounds, and Kingsley Box 13 points and 13 boards.
Jesse Ghee did all he could to lift the Rangers to the win with 33 points, five rebounds, four steals and two assists with Jack Roberts contributing 21 points and 11 boards, and Deng Puoch 10 points and four rebounds.
