Featured image: Jack Riddiford | jackriddiford.creative
The Knox Raiders might have seen their NBL1 South championship defence fall short, but they are still on track to go back-to-back at the National Finals with Friday's 99-89 win over the Maitland Mustangs.
After winning both the NBL1 South and NBL National Championships in 2023, the Raiders couldn’t quite back it up this South season finishing up in seventh spot before losing in the elimination final to the Dandenong Rangers.
However, they still had a spot in the National Finals on the back of their victory last year in Joondalup and their first up opponents at Caloundra Indoor Stadium were Maitland.
The Mustangs put aside two heartbreaking Grand Final defeats the previous two seasons by winning the NBL1 East championship against the Canberra Gunners last Saturday night to also book in their place at the Sunshine Coast.
Knox started strongly despite not having played since that elimination final loss almost a month ago and by quarter-time managed to open up a 29-20 advantage.
That lead grew to as much as 15 points early in the second quarter as well for the Raiders but from the moment Knox were up 43-30, Maitland got themselves right back into the contest.
The Mustangs would score the game's next 15 points and when two-time MVP and Grand Final MVP Will Cranston-Lown hit a three ball, suddenly the NBL1 East winners were leading with two minutes to go in the half.
Jacob Foy immediately responded to restore the lead for Knox and the Raiders did turn that into a 55-48 lead by the half-time interval.
Maitland again stormed back and put up 28 points to 22 in the third quarter which saw them end up briefly back in front, and the Raiders only leading 77-76 at three quarter-time.
However, Knox took charge for good in the fourth period with 22 points to 13 on the way to the 10-point victory to be on track for a crack at defending the national crown won last year.
Before he heads off to college, Austin Rapp was mighty impressive in the win for the Raiders with 21 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots.
"It was a good win tonight, we knew they would come out and give it their all, but credit to my point guards for finding me, KJ and Brody, and distributing the ball and I was able to knock down some shots," Rapp said.
"Credit to our coaches and we played hard, and came out here and got the W which is all that matters. We did have an up and year during the season so we just wanted to come together as a group for this, and work on what didn’t go well during the season.
"We got together for the last month, trained three or four times a week, were doing individuals and weights, and credit to our boys for coming out ready, which you could see tonight."
Melbourne United forward Kyle Bowen produced 20 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals with last year's championship hero KJ Feagin delivering 14 points, seven assists, three boards and two steals.
Brody Nunn added 13 points, five assists and four rebounds, Malith Machar nine points and eight boards, and Jacob Foy nine points on 3/6 three-point shooting.
Just six days after celebrating their breakthrough NBL1 East championship last Saturday night, their superstar Will Cranston-Lown delivered on the national stage with 33 points, eight rebounds, five steals and four assists on 12/21 shooting from the floor.
James Hunter added 17 points, four boards and two assists, Matthew Gray 16 points and five boards, and Christian Little six points and five rebounds.
KNOX RAIDERS 99 (Rapp 21, Bowen 20, Feagin 14)
MAITLAND MUSTANGS 89 (Cranston-Lown 33, Hunter 17, Gray 16)
For further information on the official destination of the National Finals, head to www.visitsunshinecoast.com
