Featured image: Tanya Hawkins Photography
It was a night to forget in the NBL1 East for the Albury-Wodonga Bandits with the women eliminated by Lauren Nicholson and the Sutherland Sharks as were the men by Emmett Adair and the Centre of Excellence on Saturday.
RECAP NBL1 EAST | WEEK 1 FINALS
WOMEN
Albury-Wodonga Bandits (74) lost to Sutherland Sharks (83)
Despite appearing an unstoppable force for most of the season, the Albury-Wodonga Bandits are out despite the best efforts of Unique Thompson with Lauren Nicholson leading the Sutherland Sharks to the 83-74 road win.
The Bandits might have dominated the regular season with a perfect 20-0 record, but a lot of that featured the legendary Lauren Jackson and WNBL forward Ash Hannan as key members of the front court.
However, neither were available for the finals and that saw Albury-Wodonga lose for the first time in 2024 last Saturday at the expense of the Newcastle Falcons.
The Bandits did remain at home at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre up against a Sharks team who finished the regular season in fifth spot before staying alive with the home win over the Canberra Nationals last week.
That set up a fascinating match up with their seasons on the line and the superstars on either side, Unique Thompson and Lauren Nicholson, delivered and combined for 72 points and 31 rebounds on the night.
It was a hot start from Sutherland who scored 11 straight points during the first quarter on the way to the 26-14 lead by quarter-time.
The lead continued to grow for the Sharks and got to as much as 16 points in the second frame and the visitors were still leading 45-36 by the half-time break.
With Thompson a dominant presence for the Bandits, they did remain a threat but the Sharks continued to have all the answers through the second half to end up locking away the nine-point victory.
Sutherland now advances to a preliminary final against the Norths Bears with a Grand Final spot on the line with Lauren Nicholson outstanding with 32 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals on 12/25 shooting from the floor and 6/8 at the foul line.
Aliza Fabbro added 17 points, three steals, two rebounds and two assists, Emily Garland 14 points, three boards and two assists, and Olivia White seven points, 16 rebounds and two steals.
Vanessa Panousis might have had just two points but her 18 minutes will be crucial for next week in what was her first appearance in two months following a recent overseas holiday.
It's a season of so close yet so far for Albury-Wodonga despite the best efforts of Unique Thompson with 40 points, 26 rebounds and three steals on 16/38 shooting from the field.
Mikayla Pivec had another 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists with Emma Mahady contributing seven points, four boards and two assists.
ALBURY-WODONGA BANDITS 74 (Thompson 40, Pivec 14, Mahady 7)
SUTHERLAND SHARKS 83 (Nicholson 32, Fabbro 17, Garland 14)
MEN
Centre of Excellence (90) defeated Albury-Wodonga Bandits (80)
Some impressive lockdown defence from Dash Daniels and 34 points from Emmett Adair has led the Centre of Excellence into a preliminary final beating the Albury-Wodonga Bandits 90-80.
Both teams put their seasons on the line in the match up at Tuggeranong with the Centre of Excellence looking to bounce back from last week's lost to the Canberra Gunners in what was their first game since June 29.
The CoE still finished the regular season in fourth spot at 14-6 ahead of hosting a Bandits team who ended up fifth before staying alive with the home win over the Bankstown Bruins last Saturday.
The Centre of Excellence were at home and got off to a hot start racing to an 18-point lead in the first quarter before still being in control at 31-14 by the end of one.
The lead got out to a game high 19 points early in the second term in favour of the CoE as well but the Bandits did work back into the contest with 27 points to 16 for the quarter to cut the Centre of Excellence lead to 47-41 at half-time.
The CoE did push that lead back out to 13 points in the third quarter, but with their season on the line Albury-Wodonga weren't going away and Davo Hickey kept them in touch with a three to close the third period.
The Bandits then scored the opening 12 points of the last term starting with a triple from Kevion Blaylock and by the time Lochlan Cummings scored going to the basket suddenly the visitors were in front with 6:45 to play and had all the momentum.
Shaun Montague pushed the Bandits out to a three-point lead ahead of a Centre of Excellence timeout and out of that, Dash Daniels scored going to the rack and Jacob Furphy hit a three-pointer.
From there the CoE took back control including a triple from Emmett Adair to make it a four-point game before Furphy stretched it to five and Ajak Nyuon threw down a dunk.
The Centre of Excellence ended up winning by 10 points to keep their season alive and advance to a preliminary final against the Maitland Mustangs.
Emmett Adair was an outstanding weapon for the CoE finishing with 34 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots on the back of shooting 13/16 from the floor, 4/5 from three-point territory and 4/4 at the foul line.
Dash Daniels played some outstanding defence to make life difficult for Davo Hickey and had 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists with Jacob Furphy adding 16 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals, and Ajak Nyuon 10 points and seven boards.
It's the season over for the Bandits and while the CoE made his life tough, Davo Hickey still had 20 points, six rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots.
Kevion Blaylock added 19 points, two rebounds and two steals, Lochlan Cummings 15 points, three boards and two steals, Mitchell Dance 13 points and eight rebounds, and Shawn Montague nine points, 11 boards, three assists and three steals.
CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 90 (Adair 34, Furphy 16, Nyuon 10, Daniels 10)
ALBURY-WODONGA BANDITS 80 (Hickey 20, Blaylock 19, Cummings 15)
