Featured image: Immy Leeon | @immyleeonsports
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles had a pair of NBL1 East wins on Sunday while the Maitland Mustangs and Inner West Bulls men, and Illawarra Hawks and Newcastle Falcons women also were victorious.
RECAP NBL1 EAST | FIRST NATIONS ROUND FRIDAY
WOMEN
Hills Hornets (64) lost to Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (91)
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles kept their winning run going to remain a chance still of a top three finish after the 91-64 road victory against the Hills Hornets.
The Sea Eagles arrived at Hills Basketball Stadium having won three straight including the previous night by 31 points over the Illawarra Hawks as they took on the Hornets on their own four-match slide.
It was a hot start from Manly Warringah as the visitors put up 30 points to 14 in the first quarter which set the tone for the rest of the afternoon.
The lead for the Sea Eagles would continue to grow and got out to as much as 20 points in the second period, 23 in the third and 29 in the fourth on the back of an 11-0 scoring streak.
Manly Warringah went on to score the 27-point victory to make it four wins in-a-row to improve to a 14-4 record to be sitting in fourth place heading into the last round.
Bree Delaney knocked down 5/11 from three-point territory for 19 points, six rebounds and four assists with Alex Delaney contributing 16 points and six assists on shooting 4/7 from behind the three-point arc.
Kim Hodge also had 16 points, seven rebounds and five steals with Brooke Flowers adding 11 points, eight boards and four blocked shots.
The Hornets have now lost four straight games to be 6-12 with Meg Jefferson top-scoring with 15 points, six rebounds and two steals.
Emma Kary added 10 points, four rebounds and two assists, and Rachel McLimore nine points, six assists and three boards.
The Hornets finish the season with two games next weekend away to Illawarra and home to the Norths Bears with the Sea Eagles also having two games on the road to the Bears and Central Coast Crusaders.
HILLS HORNETS 64 (Jefferson 15, Kary 10, McLimore 9)
MANLY WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 91 (B Delaney 19, Hodge 16, A Delaney 16)
Newcastle Falcons (93) defeated Inner West Bulls (28)
The Newcastle Falcons produced a dominant four quarters of basketball at both ends of the floor for the emphatic 93-28 victory to consolidate their hold on third position.
The Falcons were back home at Newcastle Basketball Stadium needing to keep winning to stay in third spot and fresh off a 17-point win over Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai on Saturday.
They were playing host to a Bulls team sitting in last place on a 14-game losing slide and the Falcons weren’t feeling in a charitable or hospitable mood.
While Newcastle were on top in the first quarter with 22 points to 12, things were about to get considerably worse for the Bulls and they would only manage to score a total of 16 points over the final 30 minutes of basketball.
Along the way, Newcastle put up 26 points in the second quarter, 22 in the third and 23 in the fourth to end up leading by as much as 65 points which would be the final margin.
The Falcons ended up outrebounding the Bulls 74 to 36 for the afternoon while holding Inner West to just 15 per cent field goal shooting while going 3/26 from downtown along with having 16 turnovers.
Newcastle stays third at 15-4 with the win with Elissa Brett putting up another 22 points, eight rebounds and six assists while hitting all five of her three-point attempts.
Reigning MVP Nicole Munger put up 18 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals on shooting 4/6 from downtown with Hannah Chicken adding 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Isla Juffermans 17 points and 15 boards.
It was an afternoon to forget for Inner West with Shiho Yamazaki top-scoring with eight points while Margaret Robinson pulled down 12 rebounds.
The Falcons finish the season on Saturday at home to the Maitland Mustangs while the Bulls play host to the Penrith Panthers.
NEWCASTLE FALCONS 93 (Brett 22, Munger 18, Chicken 17, Juffermans 17)
INNER WEST BULLS 28 (Yamazaki 8, Matsumoto 7, White 3, Mundine 3)
Maitland Mustangs (60) lost to Illawarra Hawks (75)
The Illawarra Hawks kept their chance of reaching the playoffs alive with the 75-60 win on the road to the Maitland Mustangs.
The Sunday match up was a last at home at Maitland Federation Centre for the season for the Mustangs and they were trying to end any playoff hopes for the Hawks in the process.
Illawarra arrived having lost its last two games to the Central Coast Crusaders and Manly Warringah Sea Eagles which left them unlikely to reach the playoffs, but it remains a chance should they take care of business and win their last three games.
The first box to tick was Sunday's trip to Maitland and that became tougher when the Mustangs managed to be leading 24-21 by the end of the first quarter.
The Hawks turned the tide from there and put up 24 points to 10 in the second quarter to go into half-time leading 45-34.
The lead for Illawarra continued to grow for much of the second half and it got out to as much as 15 points in the third quarter and that's where it still was by the final buzzer.
The win improves the Hawks to an 8-10 record on the season as they try to get to 10 wins next weekend and hope a spot is available for them in the top eight.
Georgia Ohrdorf ended up top-scoring in the win for Illawarra with 20 points, five rebounds and two assists with Ruby MacDonald adding 19 points, three steals and two boards.
Ella Dent also had 16 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, Asha Phillips 12 points, four steals and three boards, and Emilia Garcia Leon eight points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals.
The Mustangs have now lost their past three matches to sit on a 5-14 record with Shakera Reilly putting up another 24 points, five rebounds and four assists on 5/7 three-point shooting.
Summer Faleafa added seven points and nine rebounds, Isabella Jennings seven points and three boards, and Natsumi Kohama seven points, four steals and two rebounds.
The Mustangs finish the season on the road to the Newcastle Falcons on Saturday with the Hawks having two games next weekend at home to the Hills Hornets and away to the Sutherland Sharks.
MAITLAND MUSTANGS 60 (Reilly 24, Kohama 7, Jennings 7, Faleafa 7)
ILLAWARRA HAWKS 75 (Ohrdorf 20, MacDonald 19, Dent 16)
MEN
Hills Hornets (70) lost to Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (98)
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles continued their impressive form this weekend to consolidate third position with the 98-70 road victory against the Hills Hornets.
The Sea Eagles entered the weekend having lost to the Bankstown Bruins last week but they did hit back to beat the Illawarra Hawks by 28 points on Saturday ahead of playing the Hornets at Hills Basketball Stadium.
Hills also won on Saturday over the Central Coast Crusaders but the Sea Eagles had too much to play for to try and finish as high up in the top eight as possible.
It was a tight battle in the first quarter with Manly Warringah leading by just three points at quarter-time, but then the Sea Eagles put up 25 points to 16 in the second period to go into half-time leading 48-36.
That lead for the Sea Eagles continued to grow throughout the second half and grew to as much as 25 points in the third quarter and 33 in the fourth before they went on to score the 28-point victory.
As a result of the win, Manly Warringah improves to a 14-4 record to be sitting in third position with Jonas Harper putting up 22 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals while knocking down 5/9 from three-point territory.
Mason Bragg continued his standout form as point guard with 18 points, six assists and five steals with Matthew Eldridge contributing 15 points, 14 rebounds and three assists.
The Hornets now sit on a 9-9 record and still in the playoff mix going into the last round with Chris Bryant producing another 18 points and seven rebounds while Pafe Momoisea contributed 11 points, three rebounds and two assists.
The Hornets finish the season with two games next weekend away to Illawarra and home to the Norths Bears with the Sea Eagles also having two games on the road to the Bears and Central Coast Crusaders.
HILLS HORNETS 70 (Bryant 18, Momoisea 11, Smith 8)
MANLY WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 98 (Harper 22, Bragg 18, Eldridge 15)
Newcastle Falcons (76) lost to Inner West Bulls (80)
The Inner West Bulls came from behind to beat the Newcastle Falcons 80-76 on Sunday to retain their hold on a spot in the top eight heading into the last round.
The Falcons scored the seven-point win on Saturday over the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders but they lost Myles Cherry in the process for Sunday's clash with the Bulls at Newcastle Basketball Stadium.
The Bulls arrived having not played since losing to the Albury-Wodonga Bandits last Saturday, but they were still clinging to a playoff spot and couldn’t afford a slip up.
Inner West did go on a 10-0 scoring run in the opening period to end up leading by eight points, but the Falcons turned the tide in style playing with the freedom of knowing they are just out there to enjoy themselves late in the season.
Newcastle went on a 17-0 scoring run as a result to grab the lead after falling 13 points down in that second quarter, and the Falcons were leading 35-31 at the break.
The Falcons were still leading by four points at three quarter-time, but the Bulls were able to dig deep in the last term with 26 points to 18 to work back on top and score the eventual four-point win.
Inner West stays in sixth spot following the win with a 12-7 record with Jacob Ohmer delivering 20 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Alex Higgins-Titsha put up 16 points and five rebounds, Zachery Hudson 14 points and 10 boards, Tony Tolovae 12 points and three rebounds, and Ramon Cao nine points and six boards.
The Falcons are now 7-12 after splitting their two games this weekend with Leo O'Boyle ending up with 24 points and seven rebounds with Ryan Beisty contributing 12 points and 13 boards, Jai Smith 11 points and four rebounds, and Kobe Shannon 10 points and two boards.
The Falcons finish the season on Saturday at home to the Maitland Mustangs while the Bulls play host to the Penrith Panthers.
NEWCASTLE FALCONS 76 (O'Boyle 24, Beisty 12, Smith 11)
INNER WEST BULLS 80 (Ohmer 20, Higgins-Titsha 16, Hudson 14)
Maitland Mustangs (112) lost to Illawarra Hawks (100)
Maitland and Illawarra put on quite the Sunday afternoon spectacle combining for 212 points but it was the Mustangs who prevailed 112-100 with seven players scoring in double-figures to help them overcome the 38 points from Riley Abercrombie.
The match up might have featured the team in second position up against the one in second last spot at Maitland Federation Centre but that didn’t stop them putting on quite the show over the four quarters.
The Hawks were attempting to win a third game of the season and to take a big scalp, and they were able to open up an early seven-point lead before the Mustangs steadied to take a one-point lead into quarter-time.
Maitland turned that into a 15-0 scoring run which turned into 34 points to 23 in the second period and by half-time the Mustangs found themselves leading 58-46.
The lead for Maitland did grow to 19 points in the second half but Illawarra kept on scoring too with Riley Abercrombie continuing to shine.
But in the end, the Mustangs held out for the 12-point victory to improve to a 16-3 record on the season with Billy Parsons putting up 21 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals on 7/12 shooting.
Reigning MVP Will Cranston-Lown also had 17 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals with Matthew Gray contributing 14 points, 12 boards and two blocked shots.
James Hunter also had 13 points and four rebounds, Christian Little 11 points, seven assists, three boards and three steals, Daniel Millburn 12 points, Jay Cole 10 points and four rebounds, and Will Mortimore nine points and three boards.
The Hawks have now lost seven straight to slip to 2-16 on the season with Riley Abercrombie continuing to shine as this season goes on with another 38 points, 10 rebounds and two assists on shooting 14/28 from the field and 7/8 from the free-throw line.
Matthew Frierson also had 21 points and two steals, Lachie Dent 17 points, 10 assists, four rebounds and two steals, and Philip Dopud 12 points and five rebounds.
The Mustangs finish the season on the road to the Newcastle Falcons on Saturday with the Hawks having two games next weekend at home to the Hills Hornets and away to the Sutherland Sharks.
MAITLAND MUSTANGS 112 (Parsons 21, Cranston-Lown 17, Gray 14)
ILLAWARRA HAWKS 100 (Abercrombie 38, Frierson 21, Dent 17)
