Feature images via: Gordon Greaves / Megan Low
The Ipswich Force and Brisbane Capitals split their NBL1 North Friday night match ups while Mikaela Ruef enjoyed another win for North Gold Coast Seahawks over her old team before Callum Dalton starred for Logan Thunder.
The two Friday night women's matches saw the Brisbane Capitals defeat the Ipswich Force 87-75 and the North Gold Coast Seahawks defeat the Logan Thunder 74-63.
The men's match ups then had Ipswich defeat Brisbane 96-94 and Logan beat North Gold Coast 84-75.
RECAP NBL1 NORTH | ROUND 2 SUNDAY
WOMEN
Ipswich Force (75) lost to Brisbane Capitals (87)
Hannah Hank overpowered the Ipswich Force on Friday night to help the Brisbane Capitals to the 87-75 road victory.
The Capitals came into the game at JBS Stadium having lost their past nine NBL1 North games dating back to last season with Ipswich also hunting a first win of 2024 so the stakes were high for both winless outfits.
It was a high scoring opening with both teams combining for 51 points in the first quarter and by quarter-time it was Brisbane leading 27-24.
The Capitals then took charge in the second period completing a 12-0 run to open up a 20-point advantage before still being on top 54-45 at the half-time break.
After Brisbane's lead grew to 23 points in the third frame, Ipswich fired back with an 11-0 scoring streak to keep things interesting, but the Caps kept on having the answers.
The Capitals were still leading by seven at three quarter-time and then it was Brisbane pushing back out to a 17-point lead in the fourth, and holding out Ipswich to win by 12.
It snaps a nine-game losing run for Brisbane with a first win since June 10 last year with Hannah Hank dominating with 27 points and 14 rebounds settling in at the Caps after starring at the Mandurah Magic in the NBL1 West in 2023.
Lil Dart also had 19 points and three assists for Brisbane with Megan Mullings contributing 11 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and three blocks, and Hannah Young 10 points, four boards and two blocked shots.
Kahlaijah Dean put in a big showing for Ipswich made up of 28 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists with Claire Fraser delivering 15 points, eight boards and four steals, Kate Head 12 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals, and Makayla Daysh nine points and 10 boards.
The Force are on the road to the South West Metro Pirates on Saturday at 5:30pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Caps remain on the road to the North Gold Coast Seahawks next Saturday.
IPSWICH FORCE 75 (Dean 28, Fraser 15, Head 12)
BRISBANE CAPITALS 87 (Hank 27, Dart 19, Mullings 11)
North Gold Coast Seahawks (74) defeated Logan Thunder (63)
Miela Goodchild, Mikaela Ruef and Grace Champion all fired for the North Gold Coast Seahawks to beat the Logan Thunder 74-63 at home on Friday night.
Logan arrived at Runaway Bay Stadium still hunting a first win of the season with a decidedly new-look line up in 2024 while North Gold Coast have shown impressive signs in their first three games after bringing on board WNBL pair Goodchild and Ruef.
It was a stunning start on their home floor from the Seahawks as they scored 14 consecutive points to open up a 17-point lead, and to remain in control 27-16 by quarter-time.
The lead for North Gold Coast was back out to 14 points in the second frame and the home team went into the long break leading 42-34.
Logan did keep things close through the third quarter and it remained a single-figure ball game but the Seahawks pulled away again in the final term to score the 11-point win to improve to 3-1 on the season.
The three guns for North Gold Coast all came up big with Grace Champion hitting 5/8 from three-point land on her way to 23 points and five rebounds.
Miela Goodchild continued her hot form after a season at the Perth Lynx with 20 points and two assists while Mikaela Ruef is settling in nicely at her new team with 17 points, 22 rebounds, four assists and two steals in her second opportunity to face Logan already in 2024.
Chevannah Paalvast delivered 20 points, eight rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks for Logan with Jade Kirisome contributing 18 points and seven boards, and Mikhaela Cann 11 points, eight assists and six rebounds.
It's the only game of the weekend for both teams with the Seahawks hosting the Brisbane Capitals next Saturday while the Thunder are hosting the Northside Wizards.
NORTH GOLD COAST SEAHAWKS 74 (Champion 23, Goodchild 20, Ruef 17)
LOGAN THUNDER 63 (Paalvast 20, Kirisome 18, Cann 11)
MEN
Ipswich Force (96) defeated Brisbane Capitals (94)
Just with the names involved it was going to be a fascinating match up and it delivered in spades with the reigning champion Ipswich Force beating the Brisbane Capitals 96-94.
Ipswich has started its championship defence splitting its first two games of 2024 while Brisbane had won over Rockhampton last week after losing the opening two matches of the season.
That set the stage for Friday's match up at JBS Stadium and given the Brisbane Bullets teammates involved on either side from this past NBL season, it had plenty of intrigue about it.
On the side of Ipswich there was Nathan Sobey and DJ Mitchell with Sobey having since signed at the South East Melbourne Phoenix while Mitchell remains a free agent.
Then for the Capitals there was Bullets development players Gabe Hadley and Matthew Johns along with Sam McDaniel coming off the best season of his NBL career.
To top all that off, Bullets assistant coach Greg Vanderjagt is in charge of the Caps so the stage was set for what was to come.
Sobey was on fire in the first half putting up 20 points to help Ipswich open up a six-point lead in the opening term and then by 13 in the second before going into half-time on top 57-49.
The Caps did a better job locking down on Sobey for a lot of the second half and as a result got right back into the contest outscoring the Force 25 points to 18 to even grab the lead.
The game was always destined to go down to the wire and that's exactly how it panned out and just as Ipswich pulled away to a five-point lead with just a minute to go, Brisbane responded.
Geordan Papacostas scored inside and then Hadley hit a three ball to tie scores up once more, but Mitchell responded for Ipswich with the winning bucket before McDaniel's three on the buzzer missed for the Capitals.
Nathan Sobey finished with 30 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals for Ipswich on 10/22 shooting from the field and 7/8 at the foul line.
Henry Pwono also had 25 points and seven rebounds on 11/13 shooting with DJ Mitchell contributing 20 points, four boards and two assists, and Henry Makeny nine points, eight rebounds and three assists.
Gabe Hadley produced 25 points and four assists for Brisbane with Sam McDaniel contributing 25 points, 10 boards, four assists and four steals, Isaih Tueta 15 points and three assists, Geordan Papacostas 14 points and five rebounds, and Cameron Thew 10 points and 11 boards.
The Force are on the road to the South West Metro Pirates on Saturday at 5:30pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Caps remain on the road to the North Gold Coast Seahawks next Saturday.
IPSWICH FORCE 96 (Sobey 30, Pwono 25, Mitchell 20)
BRISBANE CAPITALS 94 (Hadley 25, McDaniel 25, Tueta 15)
North Gold Coast Seahawks (75) lost to Logan Thunder (84)
Logan Thunder started and finished strongly with Callum Dalton coming up big in the 84-75 road win over the North Gold Coast Seahawks.
Logan took on North Gold Coast at Runaway Bay Stadium with the Thunder making the fast start scoring 14 straight points to be up by 18 in the first term.
Logan were still leading 31-17 by quarter-time and that lead was back out to 16 in the second frame before the Seahawks worked back into the contest and had cut the margin back to seven by half-time.
North Gold Coast outscored Logan 19 points to 13 in the third period and then a three ball from William Mahoney put the Seahawks in front early in the final term.
Tyrone Fui responded in kind for the Thunder but the lead continued to switch hands until a run of five points from Zac Triplett put Logan up by that margin.
From there, Callum Dalton scored inside and Shaun Bruce knocked down a three-pointer, and the Thunder went on to win by nine points from there to improve to 2-1 on the season.
Dalton came up huge in the win for Logan with 21 points, 16 rebounds, three assists and two steals with Zac Triplett adding 19 points, four boards and two assists.
Shaun Bruce contributed 14 points and nine assists while Elijah Puna added seven points and eight rebounds.
Matt Kenyon top-scored for North Gold Coast with 19 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals with Cameron Healy contributing 13 points, 10 boards and five assists, Kane Bishop 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists, and Nathaniel Salmon 11 points and eight boards.
It's the only game of the weekend for both teams with the Seahawks hosting the Brisbane Capitals next Saturday while the Thunder are hosting the Northside Wizards.
NORTH GOLD COAST SEAHAWKS 75 (Kenyon 19, Healy 13, Bishop 12)
LOGAN THUNDER 84 (Dalton 21, Triplett 19, Bruce 14)
