The Bendigo Braves women stayed perfect on Sunday holding out the Casey Cavaliers with the Kilsyth Cobras winning a tight one over the Waverley Falcons while Jack Purchase was huge for the Melbourne Tigers and Keilor Thunder beat the Geelong United Supercats in overtime.
Sunday’s NBL1 South women’s matches saw the Ballarat Miners defeat the Melbourne Tigers 75-68, the Geelong United Supercats beat the Keilor Thunder 77-66, the Bendigo Braves downed the Casey Cavaliers 97-91, and the Kilsyth Cobras beat the Waverley Falcons 71-69.
The men’s matches saw the Tigers defeat the Miners 106-88, the Thunder beat the Supercats 106-104, the Braves beat the Cavaliers 78-65 and the Falcons defeat the Cobras 93-90.
NBL1 SOUTH RECAP | ROUND 9 SATURDAY
NBL1 SOUTH RECAP | ROUND 9 FRIDAY
WOMEN
Miners overrun Tigers for third win of season
The Ballarat Miners bounced back from their loss on Saturday to score a third victory of the NBL1 South season beating the Melbourne Tigers 75-68 on Sunday.
The Miners opened their Round 9 with a loss to the Sandringham Sabres the previous night before taking on the Tigers at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre on Sunday.
The Tigers were playing their only game of the weekend and started well on their home floor with 25 points to 18 in the opening quarter.
However, Ballarat got back into the contest in the second term with 20 points to 15 to cut Melbourne’s lead to just two at the half-time break.
Melbourne pushed its lead out to five again by three quarter-time, but it was all the Miners in the final stanza with 20 points to eight to overrun the Tigers and score the seven-point victory.
The win improves Ballarat to a 3-11 record on the season having won two of the last three matches now while the Tigers are 4-9 having lost the last three.
Emma Karamovic delivered 19 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals in the win for Ballarat while Tayanna Jones contributed 15 points, eight boards and three assists, Abbey Wehrung 12 points, five assists and three rebounds, and Kristy Rinaldi 11 points, 10 boards and three assists.
Lily Carmody put up 16 points and six rebounds for Melbourne with Tylah Hooper contributing 16 points, Sam Simons 11 points and two assists, and Hannah Giddey 11 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals.
Horvat dominates as Supercats beat Thunder
The Geelong United Supercats finished strongly to overpower the Keilor Thunder for the 77-66 victory on the road on Sunday.
The Supercats were fresh off a 35-point win over the Knox Raiders on Saturday while the Thunder also won over the Dandenong Rangers setting up Sunday’s clash at Keilor Stadium.
Scores were level by quarter-time but then it was in the second quarter when the Supercats took charge by scoring 27 points themselves and then holding the Thunder to just five to head into half-time leading 46-24.
Keilor did fire back in the third term with 29 points to 11, but Geelong had all the answers and went on to score the 11-point win to make it a perfect weekend to bounce back from last week’s loss to the Bendigo Braves.
Chantel Horvat put together a huge performance for the Supercats with 29 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 11/21 from the field, 3/5 from downtown and 4/4 from the free-throw line.
Agnieszka Skobel added 22 points, five assists, four rebounds and four steals while Sarah Elsworthy put up 11 points, six boards, three assists and three steals, and Eve Braslis 11 points.
Ai Yamada produced 24 points and five assists on 6/8 three-point shooting for Keilor with Juna Umezawa contributing 15 points and 10 boards, Anna Clephane 12 points, five rebounds and two assists, and Lana Hollingsworth nine points, four boards and three assists.
Braves made to work for tight win over Cavs
The Bendigo Braves were made to earn it but still kept its perfect record this NBL1 South season intact holding out the Casey Cavaliers 97-91 on Sunday.
The Braves were back home at Red Energy Arena fresh off beating the Waverley Falcons the previous evening by 46 points while the Cavs opened Round 9 with a 14-point defeat at the hands of the Eltham Wildcats.
Bendigo put its perfect record on the line and while the Braves led by 12 points early, the Cavs impressively hit back with 10 straight points to hold the two-point lead by the end of one.
The Braves were able to work their way back on top with 29 points to 23, though, to go into the half-time break leading 54-50.
It remained a tight affair throughout the second half with the Braves’ six-point lead that ended up being the final margin being the biggest difference between the two sides.
In the end, after Taylah Gillam brought the Cavs back within two points with 2:45 to play, the Braves scored the only four points the rest of the way with two free throws to Amy Atwell and a layup to Kelly Wilson.
That saw Bendigo win by six to improve to a perfect 14-0 record this season but it was the closest any team finished since the Braves beat the Geelong Supercats by three points back in Round 3.
Megan McKay produced yet another dominant inside performance for Bendigo in the win with 34 points, 14 rebounds and two assists on 15/24 shooting from the floor.
Amy Atwell contributed 22 points and nine rebounds for the Braves, Cassidy McLean 16 points, nine assists and four rebounds, Kasey Burton 11 points, eight boards and three assists, and Kelly Wilson nine points, 13 assists, five rebounds and three steals.
The Cavaliers put up an impressive fight with Taylah Gillam ending up with 31 points and seven assists while draining 8/14 from three-point territory.
Taylah Simmons contributed 24 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds with Steph Blicavs adding 11 points and six boards, and Rachel Bell 10 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Point god Kelly Wilson at work ?
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Jenkins stars as Cobras hand Falcons consecutive losses
The Kilsyth Cobras handed the Waverley Falcons a second loss of Round 9 with the nail biting 71-69 road victory on Sunday.
Waverley came into Round 9 in second position in the NBL1 South before losing by 46 points on the road to the Bendigo Braves on Saturday while the Cobras lost a tight one on Friday to the Mount Gambier Pioneers.
The Falcons confidence from the previous night looked rattled after they had suffered just one loss for the season before that.
Kilsyth ended up leading by as much as 12 in the opening term before still being up 18-9 by quarter-time.
The Cobras pushed their lead out to 11 again in the second stanza but the Falcons finished the first half with a bit of momentum, and then kept that going to start the third quarter to complete a 12-0 run to grab the lead for the first time in the game.
However, the Cobras were feeling confident and turned the tide once more and set up the eventual two-point win which was made to look closer thanks to a late three for Waverley from Carley Ernst.
Kilsyth improves to a 4-10 record with the win after splitting their weekend with Alisia Jenkins brilliant with 26 points, 21 rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Georgia Booth added 19 points and three rebounds, Isis Lopes 12 points, five boards and two assists, and Nikita Young eight points, five assists and four rebounds.
Bec Cole finished the afternoon with 24 points, five rebounds and four assists for Waverley on the back of knocking down 5/10 from three-point range.
Carley Ernst added 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals, Renae Mokrzycki 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Sophia Locandro 11 points and three boards
Sophia Locandro at the buzzer ?
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MEN
Purchase puts up 36 in Tigers’ win over Miners
The Melbourne Tigers came out an inspired outfit and Jack Purchase put up 36 points to help them to the 106-88 victory on Sunday at home to the Ballarat Miners.
The Tigers were making their only appearance of the weekend while the Miners were coming off a 12-point home loss to the Sandringham Sabres the previous night.
Melbourne looked like the fresh outfit too to already be leading by 14 points at quarter-time before stretching that advantage to 21 during the second period.
The Tigers were still leading 55-40 by half-time and then their lead got out to as much 23 in the fourth period with them going on to score the 18-point victory.
The Tigers improve to a 5-8 record with the victory while the Miners are now 6-8 following the pair of defeats in Round 9.
Jack Purchase was the star of the afternoon for the Tigers putting together a performance made up of 36 points, eight rebounds and six assists while shooting 14/21 from the field and 6/12 from three-point range.
Taj Chehhal added 22 points with 5/8 shooting from downtown as well for Melbourne with Reno Simankevicius contributing 11 points and three boards, Felix von Hofe 10 points, and Callan McDonald 10 points, 12 rebounds and three assists.
Jack Davidson once again led the scoring for Ballarat with 22 points, four assists, three steals and two rebounds with Tyler Rudolph contributing 21 points and 13 boards, Adam Thoseby 18 points, four rebounds and two steals, and Nic Pozoglou 14 points and six boards.
Watch out for Nicolas Pozoglou ??
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Thunder with stunning overtime win over Supercats
The thrilling Sunday afternoon in the NBL1 South continued at Keilor Stadium with the Keilor Thunder securing the 106-104 overtime win over the Geelong United Supercats.
Keilor came into the Sunday match up having won another nail-biter with the Dandenong Rangers the previous evening while the Supercats were coming off a defeat at the hands of the Knox Raiders.
Geelong United opened up a 13-point lead in the first quarter but by quarter-time the Thunder had got that deficit down to three.
The momentum swings then continued in the second quarter with scores ending up all square by half-time.
It was a one-point lead at three quarter-time for Geelong and then in the fourth stanza, it was big shot after big shot down the stretch.
Robbie Heath and George Blagojevic traded three-point bombs with just under two minutes to play before William Jenkins II scored inside to put Keilor back on top by a point.
Blagojevic replied with two free throws for Geelong before Nick Velasquez scored going to the rack to extend the lead for the Supercats.
However, Zac Triplett responded with a three ball for Keilor which ultimately sent the game into overtime.
And in the extra period, just as Keilor had some momentum after a dunk to Cirkook Riak for a three-point lead, Gabe Hadley closed that up with a three ball for Geelong.
In the end, two free throws to Robbie Heath are what sealed the win for Keilor when DeMarcus Gatlin missed his chance to tie it at the buzzer for the Supercats.
Kuany Kuany showed his quality in his best game since joining Keilor this season by producing 28 points and six rebounds on 11/17 shooting from the floor and 4/9 from three-point range.
Cirkook Riak added 18 points and six rebounds, Robbie Heath 15 points, five assists and three boards, William Jenkins II 13 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and three assists, Oliver Hayes-Brown 12 points and eight boards, and Zac Triplett 10 points and three steals.
Gabe Hadley finished with 29 points and two assists for Geelong United with George Blagojevich producing 22 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and three steals, and DeMarcus Gatlin 18 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals.
Nick Velasquez added 16 points, five boards and four assists, and Maalo Hicks 14 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots.
Demarcus Gatlin went ?
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Braves bounce back with win over Cavs
With both teams fresh off a loss the previous evening, the Bendigo Braves proved too strong for the Casey Cavaliers to end up winning 78-65 on Sunday.
Bendigo went down to the Waverley Falcons by 17 points at home on Saturday night while Casey also lost to the Eltham Wildcats by 48 points meaning both teams were looking for the rebound on Sunday at Red Energy Arena.
After Casey opened up an early five-point lead away from home, Bendigo took charge of the contest with the next nine straight points to lead by eight at quarter-time.
The Braves lead got out to 10 points in the second quarter and then 15 in the third, and 16 in the fourth before they were able to secure the 13-point triumph.
The win improves Bendigo to a 6-8 record on the season having won three of their last four while the Cavaliers are 3-11 with the double loss weekend.
Luke Rosendale finished the afternoon with 21 points and four assists for Bendigo while Billy Smythe delivered 19 points and 10 boards, Bijan Johnson 14 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Christiaan Jones 10 points, six boards, four steals and two assists.
Preston Bungei produced 20 points and four rebounds on 4/6 three-point shooting for the Cavaliers with Nathan Frost putting up 14 points and 15 boards, and Patrick Emilien 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
Falcons hold out Cobras with Stith starring again
The Waverley Falcons built up a 15-point lead during the second half before holding out the fast finishing Kilsyth Cobras to win 93-90 on Sunday on their home floor.
Waverley was fresh off having beaten the Bendigo Braves away from home by 17 points on Saturday night while Kilsyth had lost by 22 points away to the Mount Gambier Pioneers back on Friday.
Both teams had their moments in the opening quarter before Waverley led by a point and the Falcons opened up a double-digit edge during the second stanza and were still leading 51-46 at half-time.
The Falcons kept the momentum rolling with a 15-point lead in the third term and then 13 early in the fourth, but the Cobras wouldn’t go away and even briefly grabbed the lead with an inside finish from Auryn MacMillan with two minutes to play.
However, Waverley steadied to record the three-point win to improve to an 8-6 record after the two wins in Round 9 while Kilsyth is 5-9 after the two defeats.
Dillon Stith continued his outstanding form for Waverley with another 26 points, 15 rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Dexter Kernich-Drew added 18 points and two assists, Michael Harper 13 points and three rebounds, Tristan Forsyth 12 points and 11 boards, and AJ Harris 10 points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Adrian Tomada put up 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Kilsyth while Ben Ursich contributed 21 points, six rebounds and three assists, Chris Galbreath Jr 18 points and five boards, and Jamie Ahale 15 points, seven boards, four assists and two steals.
