Feature images via: Greg Francis / James O'Donohue Photography
Sunday in the NBL1 East saw a pair of wins for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles while the Hills Hornets and Canberra, and Centre of Excellence and Norths Bears split their match ups.
The three Sunday women's results saw the Hills Hornets beat the Canberra Nationals 74-70 while the Norths Bears defeated the Centre of Excellence 73-57 and the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles downed the Sutherland Sharks 86-71.
The corresponding men's matches saw the Canberra Gunners beat the Hornets 96-66, the Centre of Excellence defeat the Bears 83-70, and the Sea Eagles down the Sharks 96-81.
RECAP NBL1 EAST | ROUND 5 SATURDAY
RECAP NBL1 EAST | ANZAC ROUND SUNDAY
WOMEN
Hills Hornets (74) defeated Canberra Nationals (70)
The Hills Hornets stormed home with a dominant final quarter to overrun the Canberra Nationals for the 74-70 Sunday victory at home.
The Hornets were fresh off beating the Illawarra Hawks the previous night also at Hills Basketball Stadium ahead of hosting Canberra on Sunday with the Nationals having lost a thriller on Saturday by three points to the Penrith Panthers.
It turned into a terrific contest and precious little separated the two teams the entire 40 minutes with the lead never getting bigger than the eight points that both teams were able to be up by at different periods.
After the Hornets opened up an eight-point edge in the first quarter, Canberra fired back and cut the deficit to just two by quarter-time.
The Nationals kept that momentum going to end up leading by seven during the second quarter but it was the Hornets' turn to hit back and by half-time Canberra was only narrowly on top 40-39.
Canberra were able to push out to an eight-point lead throughout the second half, but the Hornets kept on coming and finished the better with 21 points to 11 in the fourth quarter on the way to the eventual four-point victory.
The win improves Hills to a 3-4 record on the season with the two wins this weekend with Emma Kary delivering 17 points, seven rebounds and two assists.
Meg Jefferson also produced 17 points, six rebounds and three assists for the Hornets, Rachel McLimore 14 points, six assists and four boards, and Taylah Moss 10 points, five rebounds and two steals.
Canberra slips to a 3-5 record with the two losses this weekend with Callie Bourne putting up 15 points and 14 rebounds with Maddison Penn contributing 15 points, four boards and three assists, Lizzy Tonks 14 points, four steals, three rebounds and three assists, and Bianca Dufelmeier 10 points, three boards and two assists.
The Hornets will be away to the Maitland Mustangs on Saturday with Canberra also on the road to the Central Coast Crusaders.
HILLS HORNETS 74 (Jefferson 17, Kary 17, McLimore 14)
CANBERRA NATIONALS 70 (Bourne 15, Penn 15, Tonks 14)
Centre of Excellence (57) lost to Norths Bears (73)
The defending champion Norths Bears kept their winning run going with Maddie O'Hehir leading the charge to beat the shorthanded Centre of Excellence 73-57.
The two teams did battle on Sunday at AIS Basketball and Netball Centre with the Centre of Excellence coming off a Saturday loss in the same venue to the Sydney Comets while the Bears arrived having won three straight this season on the back of last year's championship.
The CoE were battling to put fit bodies out on the court with some star players not able to play including Bonnie Deas, Sitaya Fagan and Monique Williams as they took on the challenge against the reigning champions.
After the Bears started well with an early 11-point lead, the CoE fired back into the contest to go on their own 12-0 scoring run either side of quarter-time to end up grabbing the lead in the second period.
It remained a tight contest the rest of the first half too with Norths going into half-time just clinging to the 33-31 advantage.
The Bears took charge in the second half, though, and opened up a 12-point lead in the third quarter and it got out to a 21-point advantage in the fourth before they secured the 16-point victory to improve to 6-1 on the season in their championship defence.
Maddie O'Hehir was outstanding once again in the win for the Bears with another 26 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals on 8/13 shooting from the floor and 9/15 at the foul line.
Caitlyn Martin added 15 points and two steals for Norths, Holly Wills 11 points and seven rebounds, and Sarah Schicher nine points, 15 boards, four assists, four steals and two blocked shots.
The Centre of Excellence did fight hard with Zara Russell finishing with 14 points and three steals, Monique Bobongie 13 points and three rebounds, Jade Crook 12 points, 10 boards and three assists, and Opal Bird 10 points, six rebounds and three steals.
The Centre of Excellence are on the road to the Newcastle Falcons now on Saturday with the Bears to be hosting the Penrith Panthers.
CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 57 (Russell 14, Bobongie 13, Crook 12)
NORTHS BEARS 73 (O'Hehir 26, Martin 15, Wills 11)
Sutherland Sharks (71) lost to Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (86)
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles made it five straight wins to open the 2024 season with the 86-71 victory on the road to the Sutherland Sharks.
Both teams also played on Saturday with the Sharks beating the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders while the Sea Eagles were impressive beating the Central Coast Crusaders.
That set up Sunday's match up at Sutherland Basketball Stadium and both teams had their time on top in the first quarter before at quarter-time, it was Manly Warringah leading 27-24.
It remained a tight contest throughout the second quarter and by half-time it was the Sharks clinging to the narrow 45-44 advantage.
The Sea Eagles were able to work their way on top in the third frame as they outscored the Sharks 24 points to 15 to go into three quarter-time on top 68-60.
Manly Warringah were able to close things out having the lead the entire final period before ending up winning by 15 to improve to a perfect 5-0 on the season on the back of last year's heartbreaking Grand Final loss.
Alex Delaney was once again outstanding for the Sea Eagles with 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists with Antonia Henderson contributing 17 points and eight boards while Josie Bulman delivered 15 points, 15 rebounds and five assists.
Zoey Miller also produced 15 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals, and Bree Delaney 12 points, seven boards and three assists.
The Sharks are now 3-4 following the defeat with Vanessa Panousis putting up another 15 points, three rebounds and three assists with Aliza Fabbro top-scoring with 18 points and four assists.
Olivia White also had 12 points, five rebounds and two steals for Sutherland with Madeleine Norris contributing 11 points, three assists and two rebounds.
Sutherland will be on the road on Saturday to the Sydney Comets with Manly Warringah also away to the Inner West Bulls.
SUTHERLAND SHARKS 71 (Fabbro 18, Panousis 15, White 12)
MANLY WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 86 (A Delaney 21, Henderson 17, Miller 15, Bulman 15)
MEN
Hills Hornets (66) lost to Canberra Gunners (96)
The Canberra Gunners are right back to their 2022 championship winning form making it six straight wins beating the Hills Hornets 96-66 on the road on Sunday.
The Hornets did come into the match up after beating the Illawarra Hawks the previous night by 23 points ahead of hosting a Canberra team at Hills Basketball Stadium on a five-game winning streak.
The Gunners had also beaten the Penrith Panthers the night before and Canberra was able to work on top in the opening period and never look back.
Even after leading by 11 in the first term but then having that advantage back to six at quarter-time, the Gunners pulled away further in the second frame outscoring the Hornets 27 points to 12 to end up leading by as much as 23 points.
That lead for Canberra got out to as much as 30 points in the final quarter with the Gunners ending up beating the Hornets by that margin to make it six straight wins and to improve to a 7-1 record.
Will Mayfield produced 26 points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists for the Gunners in the win on the back of 9/17 shooting from the floor and 7/9 from the foul line.
Glenn Morison added 15 points, seven assists and four rebounds while Lachlan Smith contributed 14 points and six boards, James Toohey 12 points and four assists, Derek Emelifeonwu 10 points and three assists, and Cameron Pender eight points and nine rebounds.
The Hornets are now 4-3 following the loss despite 18 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals from Ishmael Sanders with Mitch Smith contributing 12 points, Liam Moss 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Chris Bryant 10 points and three boards.
The Hornets will be away to the Maitland Mustangs on Saturday with Canberra also on the road to the Central Coast Crusaders.
HILLS HORNETS 66 (Sanders 18, Smith 12, Bryant 10, Moss 10)
CANBERRA GUNNERS 96 (Mayfield 26, Morison 15, Smith 14)
Centre of Excellence (83) defeated Norths Bears (70)
Kye Savage and Luke Fennell continued to show why they have exciting NBL futures after leading the Centre of Excellence to the 83-70 Sunday victory over the Norths Bears.
The CoE opened their weekend double beating the Sydney Comets by 16 points the previous night and they were back at AIS Basketball and Netball Centre on Sunday playing host to a Bears team trying to bounce back from a 23-point defeat at the hands of the Inner West Bulls.
Even though the Basketball Australia stars of the future opened up a 10-point lead during the first quarter, the Bears fought back into the contest and grabbed the lead during the second term before the CoE went into the half-time break narrowly leading 42-41.
It was all the Centre of Excellence throughout the second half, though, with the home team seeing their lead blow out to 18 points in the third quarter, and it was still 17 in the fourth before they secured the 13-point victory.
The win improves the CoE to a 3-3 record on the season with the two wins this weekend with Kye Savage putting up 20 points fresh off having signed to join the Brisbane Bullets from NBL25 onwards.
Luke Fennell will be joining the South East Melbourne Phoenix and he had 14 points, five rebounds and three assists with Jacob Furphy contributing 14 points and two assists, and Josh Dent eight points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals.
The Bears slip to a 3-4 record with the pair of losses this weekend with Mandrell Worthy producing 29 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Pietro Badalassi added 10 points and 13 rebounds, Robert Moore nine points and five boards, and Cooper Wilks seven points.
The Centre of Excellence are on the road to the Newcastle Falcons now on Saturday with the Bears to be hosting the Penrith Panthers.
CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 83 (Savage 20, Fennell 14, Furphy 14)
NORTHS BEARS 70 (Worthy 29, Badalassi 10, Moore 9)
Sutherland Sharks (81) lost to Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (96)
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles dominated the second half against the defending champion Sutherland Sharks for the 96-81 road victory on Sunday.
Both teams were fresh off Saturday victories with the Sea Eagles winning at home to the Central Coast Crusaders and the Sharks beating the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders heading into Sunday's match up at Sutherland Basketball Stadium.
It was a remarkably tight contest for the first half too with neither team able to lead by more than four points with the Sharks up by two at quarter-time and then just the one at half-time.
However, in the second half it was all the Sea Eagles as they outscored the Sharks 24 points to 17 in the third period and then 22 to 13 in the fourth on the way to the eventual 15-point victory.
The win is a third in-a-row for Manly Warringah as they improve to a 4-1 record on the season with Jonas Harper ending up the top-scorer with 19 points, four assists and two rebounds.
Mitch Evans added 16 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals with 4/11 three-point shooting while Eromon Uadiale contributed 15 points and four boards on 6/6 shooting, Matthew Eldridge 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals, and Lachlan Clark 10 points and two assists.
The defending champion Sutherland slips to 3-4 now on the season with the loss with Lochlan Hutchison finishing with 25 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Klairus Amir added 20 points with Brian Williams contributing 17 points and seven rebounds, and Geoff Gerlach seven points, four assists and three boards.
Sutherland will be on the road on Saturday to the Sydney Comets with Manly Warringah also away to the Inner West Bulls.
SUTHERLAND SHARKS 81 (Hutchison 25, Amir 20, Williams 17)
MANLY WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 96 (Harper 19, Evans 16, Uadiale 15)
