Kate Kingham starred for the Newcastle Falcons while both Centre of Excellence teams opened their NBL1 East accounts, Obi Kyei shone for the Sydney Comets, and Jacob Ohmer and Ramon Cao combined for 66 points and 14 threes for the Inner West Bulls.
The three Sunday NBL1 East women's matches saw the Centre of Excellence beat the Bankstown Bruins 93-75 while the Illawarra Hawks downed the Inner West Bulls 80-61, and the Newcastle Falcons defeated the Sydney Comets 79-58.
The men's matches on Sunday then had the Comets beat the Falcons 77-69, the Centre of Excellence defeat the Bruins 89-82, and the Bulls hammer the Hawks 140-71.
RECAP NBL1 EAST | ROUND 3 SATURDAY
RECAP NBL1 EAST | ROUND 3 FRIDAY
WOMEN
Sydney Comets (58) lost to Newcastle Falcons (79)
The Newcastle Falcons made it five straight wins to open the season with another impressive road performance on Sunday to beat the Sydney Comets 79-58.
Both teams came into the match up having won earlier in the weekend with the Comets beating the Inner West Bulls back on Friday while the Falcons downed Hornsby on Saturday.
That set up the Sunday match up at Comets Stadium nicely and after Sydney led by six early on, Newcastle scored 12 consecutive points to end up leading 19-14 by the end of one.
The Falcons pushed away further in the second period to lead by as much as 21 points and they would remain in control from there.
Newcastle's advantage grew to 27 points in the second half as well with them ending up winning by 21 to improve to 5-0 on the season after the opening three rounds.
While Nicole Munger had another strong performance for Newcastle with 21 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out, it was Kate Kingham the star on this occasion with 24 points, five boards, two assists and two steals on making 5/5 from three-point land.
Sophie Brennan added 12 points, five assists and three rebounds with Aarion Nichols contributing eight points, 10 boards, five assists and two blocks, and Hannah Chicken eight points and 11 rebounds.
Davida Dale top-scored for Sydney with 15 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and two steals with Serika Shillingsworth contributing 12 points and two assists, and Alexandra Kayrouz eight points, five rebounds and three steals.
The Comets will be at home to the Norths Bears on ANZAC Day at 2pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Falcons next face the Penrith Panthers on the road on Saturday.
SYDNEY COMETS 58 (Dale 15, Shillingsworth 12, Kayrouz 8)
NEWCASTLE FALCONS 79 (Kingham 24, Munger 21, Brennan 12)
Centre of Excellence (93) defeated Bankstown Bruins (75)
The Centre of Excellence are on the board for 2024 with Bonnie Deas outstanding in Sunday's 93-75 victory against the Bankstown Bruins.
The CoE young guns played their first game of the NBL1 East season back on Friday with a loss on the road to the Albury-Wodonga Bandits before returning to the Australian Institute of Sport to host the Bruins on Sunday.
Bankstown came into the match up after beating the Penrith Panthers back on Friday and it was the Bruins who had the better of the start leading by as much as 13 points in the first quarter.
That meant the CoE had to respond if they wanted to avoid a 0-2 start and they did go on a 13-0 scoring streak in the second period to grab the lead, and to be on top 48-43 at half-time.
From there, the team from Basketball Australia stretched their lead out to 22 points in the third period and 26 in the fourth before winning by 18 and opening their account for 2024.
Bonnie Deas was the star in the win for the Centre of Excellence finishing with 24 points, 10 rebounds and two assists.
Monique Bobongie added 18 points, four steals, three assists and two rebounds with Monique Williams contributing 11 points, Zara Russell 10 points and five assists, and Opal Bird 10 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Azaleeah Oloapu top-scored for Bankstown with 17 points to go with four rebounds and two assists while Britney Wright contributed 14 points and six boards, Violet Morrow 11 points and seven rebounds, and Abbey Vallance 11 points, six boards and three steals.
Both teams will be in action again on Friday night with the Bruins at home to the Inner West Bulls and the Centre of Excellence away to the Central Coast Crusaders at 6pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App.
CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 93 (Deas 24, Bobongie 18, Williams 11)
BANKSTOWN BRUINS 75 (Oloapu 17, Wright 14, Morrow 11, Vallance 11)
Illawarra Hawks (80) defeated Inner West Bulls (61)
The Illawarra Hawks made it three straight wins this NBL1 East season with the 80-61 Sunday home win against the Inner West Bulls.
The Hawks were fresh off beating the Penrith Panthers on Saturday night and backed up at The Snakepit on Sunday against an Inner West team attempting to bounce back from Friday's road loss to the Sydney Comets.
Illawarra didn’t take long to take charge of the contest scoring 12 consecutive points in the opening period to open up a 13-point lead, and still be up 20-9 after the first quarter.
Inner West did well to score nine straight points in response and end up outscoring Illawarra 19 points to 14 in the second term to cut the Hawks lead at half-time to 34-28.
Illawarra, though pulled away again in the third quarter to be back up 11 and then to stretch that lead to 19 in the final period with the Hawks winning by that 19-point margin to improve to 3-1 on the season.
Ella Dent top-scored for Illawarra with 18 points, six rebounds and two steals on 10/11 free-throw shooting.
Georgia Ohrdorf contributed 15 points and three rebounds with Asha Phillips adding 10 points, four assists and three rebounds, Courtney Jardine nine points, three boards and two assists, and Ruby MacDonald nine points, four rebounds and two steals.
Piath Gabriel put up 21 points, three rebounds, three blocks and two steals for Inner West with Margaret Robinson contributing 13 points, 13 boards and six assists, and Shiho Yamazaki 12 points and six assists.
The Hawks will be back at home on Thursday for ANZAC Day against the Sutherland Sharks at 5pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Bulls are then away to the Bankstown Bruins on Friday.
ILLAWARRA HAWKS 80 (Dent 18, Ohrdorf 15, Phillips 10)
INNER WEST BULLS 61 (Gabriel 21, Robinson 13, Yamazaki 12)
MEN
Sydney Comets (77) defeated Newcastle Falcons (69)
Obi Kyei showed why he was once a highly sought after NBL talent by putting up an impressive showing as the Sydney Comets beat the Newcastle Falcons 77-69.
The Comets were back home at Comets Stadium on Sunday attempting to bounce back from their first loss of 2024 back on Friday night against the Inner West Bulls.
The Falcons arrived fresh off their first win of the season as well on Saturday against Hornsby so that set the stage for an intriguing match up.
Newcastle started well too on the back of that momentum from the previous day by opening up a seven-point advantage by quarter-time.
Sydney responded strongly by outscoring them 21 points to 12 then in the second term and that had the Comets clinging to the 40-38 lead at the main break.
The Comets then took further control in the third quarter to open up an eight-point lead which grew to 11 in the fourth period and they would go on to win by eight.
The victory improves Sydney to a 3-1 record to start the season with Obi Kyei tremendous for the Comets with 23 points, 12 rebounds, five steals and two assists on 8/15 shooting from the field and 7/8 at the foul line.
Biwali Bayles also had 18 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals for the Comets with Ernest Docker contributing 14 points, four boards and three steals, and Matthew Wacher seven points, six rebounds and three assists.
Newcastle is now 1-4 following the defeat which saw Francis Wineera-Mulvihill contribute 14 points, six rebounds and three assists, Ryan Beisty 14 points and eight boards, Kobe Shannon 12 points, and Myles Cherry eight points, 16 rebounds and three assists.
The Comets will be at home to the Norths Bears on ANZAC Day at 4pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Falcons next face the Penrith Panthers on the road on Saturday.
SYDNEY COMETS 77 (Kyei 23, Bayles 18, Docker 14)
NEWCASTLE FALCONS 69 (Beisty 14, Wineera-Mulvihill 14, Shannon 12)
Centre of Excellence (89) defeated Bankstown Bruins (82)
Julius Halaifonua delivered 23 points and helped the Centre of Excellence to a first win of 2024 with the 89-82 victory against the Bankstown Bruins on Sunday.
The Centre of Excellence played their first game of the season with an 11-point loss back on Friday away to the Albury-Wodonga Bandits ahead of coming back to the Australian Institute of Sport on Sunday to host the Bruins.
Bankstown came into the Sunday match up having won its opening three matches of the season including against Penrith back on Friday setting up the fascinating clash to close Round 3.
Both teams had their moments on top in the first quarter but by quarter-time it was Bankstown clinging to a 28-26 lead.
The Centre of Excellence were then able to score 10 consecutive points in the second period to open up a 10-point advantage, and head into the half-time break leading 54-48.
Bankstown was able to fire back, though, to outscore the CoE 18 points to 12 in the third term and that saw the Bruins grab a four-point lead and to put the onus back on the young guns to respond.
The CoE did just that and scored 23 points to 16 in the fourth quarter to end up winning by seven and score their first victory of 2024.
Julius Halaifonua was impressive for the Centre of Excellence with the win to end the afternoon with 23 points and six rebounds on 9/11 shooting from the floor.
Jacob Furphy knocked down 5/6 from three-point territory for 15 points with James O'Donnell adding 13 points and seven boards, and Yuto Kawashima 12 points and four rebounds.
Naaman Hightower has joined the Bruins this season having played at the East Perth Eagles in the NBL1 West last season. He put up 27 points, five rebounds and three assists on 10/16 shooting on Sunday.
Hayden Blankley also had 20 points and seven rebounds, and Andre Wolford 19 points, five boards and two assists.
Both teams will be in action again on Friday night with the Bruins at home to the Inner West Bulls and the Centre of Excellence away to the Central Coast Crusaders at 8pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App.
CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 89 (Halaifonua 23, Furphy 15, O'Donnell 13)
BANKSTOWN BRUINS 82 (Hightower 27, Blankley 20, Wolford 19)
Illawarra Hawks (71) lost to Inner West Bulls (140)
The Inner West Bulls showed no mercy on the Illawarra Hawks on Sunday afternoon romping to the massive 140-71 victory.
With the Bulls coming into the game having won four of five games this season and the Hawks being winless, the job was always a significant one for Illawarra at The Snakepit.
The Bulls arrived in the 'Gong having won three straight as well including over the Sydney Comets back on Friday while the Hawks lost a three-point thriller to the Penrith Panthers on Saturday coming into the match up.
Inner West were a team on a mission and put up 35 points to 18 in the opening period and went on with the demolition from there.
It was an incredible 48-point to 16 outburst in the second quarter and that saw the Bulls go into the half-time break leading 83-34.
It was time to dive into the record books for biggest ever wins and highest scores, and Inner West went on with the job from there in the second half as well.
The Bulls would outscore the Hawks 35 points to 22 in the third period, 22 to 15 in the fourth and the final margin of 69 points was the biggest of the match.
Inner West improves to 5-1 with the win with Jacob Ohmer knocking down 8/11 from three-point land for 34 points, four steals, three rebounds and two assists.
Ramon Cao also hit 6/7 from downtown for 32 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals with Alex Higgins-Titsha adding 15 points and six rebounds, and Zachery Hudson 22 points and seven assists.
It was a rough afternoon for the Hawks with Brad Ballinger top-scoring with 11 points with Wiliam Rice joining him on 11 to go with five rebounds and three steals.
Ethan-James Laudato also had 10 points and five assists, and Philip Dopud nine points, five rebounds and three assists.
The Hawks will be back at home on Thursday for ANZAC Day against the Sutherland Sharks at 7pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Bulls are then away to the Bankstown Bruins on Friday.
ILLAWARRA HAWKS 71 (Ballinger 11, Rice 11, Laudato 10)
INNER WEST BULLS 140 (Ohmer 34, Cao 32, Hudson 22)
