Featured image: Rob Sheeley/@robshots
Jasmine Forcadilla starred as the Central Coast Crusaders scored a crucial final round NBL1 East victory while it was also a pair of wins for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles over the Norths Bears on Friday night.
RECAP NBL1 EAST | FIRST NATIONS ROUND SUNDAY
WOMEN
Illawarra Hawks (73) defeated Hills Hornets (51)
They are still up against it, but the Illawarra Hawks still maintained hope of sneaking into the playoffs with a 73-51 win at home to the Hills Hornets.
The Hawks still need a lot to go right, but the least they could do was win their two games this weekend and that task started on Friday night at The Snakepit up against the out of contention Hornets.
Illawarra got off to a flying start with an 11-0 run in the first quarter to open up a 15-point lead by the end of one.
It was another 17 points to 11 in the second period and that saw the Hawks take the 40-19 lead into half-time to be well in control.
The lead got out to 24 points in the second half and the Hawks were able to cruise to the 22-point home victory to improve to a 9-10 record on the season.
Georgia Ohrdorf put up 22 points and five rebounds on 9/12 field goal shooting in the win for Illawarra with Asha Phillips contributing 16 points, nine boards and two steals.
Lauren Gatwood added nine points and four assists, Courtney Jardine eight points, four rebounds and three assists, Ruby MacDonald seven points and four boards, and Ella Dent had five rebounds and 12 assists.
The Hornets have now lost five in-a-row to be 6-13 with Rachel McLimore top-scoring with 10 points and two rebounds while Emma Kary contributed eight points, two boards and two assists, and Ella Gale eight points, eight rebounds and two steals.
The Hawks now finish the season away to the Sutherland Sharks on Saturday with the Hornets to host the Norths Bears.
ILLAWARRA HAWKS 73 (Ohrdorf 22, Phillips 16, Garwood 9)
HILLS HORNETS 51 (McLimore 10, Gale 8, Kary 8)
Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders (68) lost to Central Coast Crusaders (96)
Jasmine Forcadilla put up 32 points and the Central Coast Crusaders consolidated a playoff spot with the 96-68 road victory against the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders.
The Crusaders arrived at Barker College looking for a fourth straight win to secure that place in the top eight as they took on the Spiders who were attempting to avoid a fourth consecutive defeat.
Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai did start well on their home floor opening up a seven-point lead in the first quarter but by quarter-time Central Coast had worked on top at 17-16.
The Crusaders then blew the game wide open in the second stanza with 40 points to 13 to end up leading by as much as 28 points and to be on top 57-29 by the half-time break.
The lead did get out to as much as 33 points in the second half before Central Coast secured the eventual 28-point win to remain solid in the top eight with a 12-7 record.
Jasmine Forcadilla had a night out in the win for Central Coast with 32 points, five rebounds and three assists with 5/9 three-point shooting.
Mikaela Dombkins added 20 points, six rebounds and five assists on 6/9 shooting with Leilani Mitchell contributing 15 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and three steals, and Darneka Rowe 10 points, four boards and four assists.
It's a fourth consecutive loss for Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai who are now 5-14 with Ay'Anna Bey finishing with 22 points and 10 rebounds on 8/12 shooting from the field and 6/8 at the foul line.
Naruna Inamura added 14 points, three assists and three steals with Jessie-May Hall contributing 13 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists, and Keira Hudson eight points, two assists and two steals.
The Spiders will finish their season on Sunday at home to Canberra with Central Coast to play host to the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles on Saturday.
HORNSBY KU-RING-GAI SPIDERS 68 (Bey 22, Inamura 14, Hall 13)
CENTRAL COAST CRUSADERS 96 (Forcadilla 32, Dombkins 20, Mitchell 15)
Norths Bears (68) lost to Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (73)
On the eve of the finals the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles scored a stirring win over the defending champion Norths Bears 73-68 on Friday night in overtime.
It's the second time the teams have played another this season since last year's thrilling Grand Final where the Bears prevailed to win the championship.
The Bears then also won the first encounter of 2024 back on May 25 ahead of the Friday night match up to open the final round at North Sydney Indoor Sports Centre.
The Bears were at home and on a 15-game winning streak while the Sea Eagles arrived having won four straight themselves and still a chance to finish third with a double win weekend.
Every time Manly Warringah threatened to pull away, Norths would respond in what turned out a fascinating contest between two genuine championship threats.
The Sea Eagles did lead by seven points in the first quarter but scores were back level by quarter-time.
That trend continued with Manly Warringah leading by seven again in the second term by half-time it was just a 35-33 advantage.
It was then the Bears who held the 49-48 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but in the end scores were locked at 64-64 by the end of regulation after two clutch free throws from Kim Hodge which was the last points with just over a minute to play.
Then in overtime, the Sea Eagles scored the first five points and that was enough to set up the eventual five-point win to earn a measure of revenge ahead of the playoffs for last year's Grand Final.
The win improves Manly Warringah to a 15-4 record now with five straight wins with Kim Hodge finishing with 20 points on 8/14 shooting.
Bree Delaney added 13 points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists, Brooke Flowers nine points and 13 boards, and Zoey Miller 10 points, four assists and three rebounds.
Norths suffered a second loss for the season and saw the 15-game winning run come to an end to be 17-2 with Caitlyn Martin finishing with 23 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Maddie O'Hehir produced another 12 points, four rebounds and two steals with Ae'Rianna Harris contributing eight points and 11 boards, and Sarah Schicher five points, 11 rebounds and two steals.
Emily Simons also had 10 points, three rebounds, three blocks and two steals, and Carla Pitman five points, five boards and three assists.
The Bears will finish their season away to the Hills Hornets on Saturday with the Sea Eagles on the road to the Central Coast Crusaders.
NORTHS BEARS 68 (Martin 23, O'Hehir 12, Simons 10)
MANLY WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 73 (Hodge 20, B Delaney 13, Miller 10)
MEN
Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders (93) defeated Central Coast Crusaders (79)
The Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders started the last round of the NBL1 East season with a third victory, beating the Central Coast Crusaders 93-79 at home on Friday.
Neither team is in the playoff hunt entering the final round of the season ahead of taking on one another at Barker College. Even though the Spiders opened up an early eight-point lead, the Crusaders responded with an 8-0 to make it 22-22 by quarter-time.
Central Coast kept that run going with the first seven points of the second quarter as well to open up their own seven-point lead and the Crusaders were still up 44-41 by the half-time break.
The Spiders worked their way back in front with 22 points to 15 in the third quarter before then taking charge further with another 30 points to 20 in the final term on the way to the eventual 14-point victory.
Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai improved to a 3-16 record as a result with Aaron Redhead producing 25 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Nathaniel Chappell also had 15 points on 6/9 field goal shooting for the Spiders with Brian Ansuh-Yeboah contributing 13 points, three rebounds and two assists, Raymond Takchi 11 points, 10 assists and six boards, and Alexander Sidhu nine points, 15 boards, five assists and three steals.
Central Coast is now 4-15 following the defeat with Robbie Heath delivering 27 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Luke Cassidy finished with 16 points and two assists while Chan Nai contributed 15 points and two rebounds, and Ben Stevens pulled down 16 boards.
The Spiders will finish their season on Sunday at home to Canberra with Central Coast to play host to the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles on Saturday.
HORNSBY KU-RING-GAI SPIDERS 93 (Redhead 25, Chappell 15, Ansuh-Yeboah 13)
CENTRAL COAST CRUSADERS 79 (Heath 27, Cassidy 16, Nai 15)
Norths Bears (85) lost to Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (87)
To be any hope of playing finals in 2024 the Norths Bears needed a double win weekend but the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles denied them the first leg with the 87-85 road win just holding out the home team.
There was plenty at stake for both teams in the Friday night match up at North Sydney Indoor Sports Centre with the Bears having won their last two games to stay alive but they needed to keep winning while the Sea Eagles also had to keep winning to stay third.
Manly Warringah were leading by two points at quarter-time before then opening up a handy lead in the second period with 22 points to 14 to go into half-time on top 48-38.
After the Sea Eagles got out to a 17-point lead in the third quarter, the Bears dug deep to score the next 13 points knowing their season was on the line.
However, Manly Warringah were able to respond to push back out to a 10-point lead in the final quarter and then hold off the fast finishing Bears for the eventual two-point win.
The victory improves the Sea Eagles to a 15-4 record having now won three straight with Matthew Eldridge leading the way with 20 points and 14 rebounds.
Jonas Harper added 18 points, six assists, four steals and three rebounds, Stefan Valkovic 18 points, three boards and two assists, and Lachlan Clark nine points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
The loss means the Bears can't reach the finals at 10-9 with a game to play despite Mandrell Worthy finishing with 26 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.
Michael Yoong also had 16 points, three rebounds and three assists, Pietro Badalassi 12 points, four assists, three boards and two steals, and Lewis Holey 11 points and 12 rebounds.
The Bears will finish their season away to the Hills Hornets on Saturday with the Sea Eagles on the road to the Central Coast Crusaders.
NORTHS BEARS 85 (Worthy 26, Yoong 16, Badalassi 12)
MANLY WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 87 (Eldridge 20, Harper 18, Valkovic 18)
