Sydneysimone Wright was the ultimate X-factor as the Rockhampton Cyclones secured two straight wins this weekend to win the NBL1 North championship in style to earn redemption against the Northside Wizards.
RECAP NBL1 NORTH | GRAND FINALS GAME 2
REACTION NBL1 NORTH | MEN'S GRAND FINAL GAME 1
REACTION NBL1 NORTH | WOMEN'S GRAND FINAL GAME 1
RECAP NBL1 NORTH | GRAND FINALS GAME 1
WOMEN
Northside Wizards (59) lost to Rockhampton Cyclones (80)
History was against them, home court was against them and injuries were catching up with them, but the Rockhampton Cyclones simply wouldn’t be denied securing the NBL1 North championship with the 80-59 Game 3 win against the Northside Wizards.
Deciding Grand Final games can often throw up unexpected heroes and on this occasion with the Cyclones having lost Elizajane Loader to a shoulder injury in Game 1 on Friday, it was Sydneysimone Wright who proved the championship clinching hero.
The Cyclones overpowered the Wizards in Game 3 on Sunday afternoon at Northside Indoor Sports Centre with Wright standing up to knock down seven three-pointers for 23 points in the 21-point triumph to clinch a first championship since going back-to-back in 2015 and 2016.
The Wizards and Cyclones had also clashed in the Grand Final series in the NBL1 North last year where Northside clinched the championship before both teams ended the 2024 regular season in the top two spots.
They set up the Grand Final rematch by winning their semi-final match ups respectively against the North Gold Coast Seahawks and the Townsville Flames with the Wizards earning home court advantage for the weekend.
The Wizards then secured the Game 1 victory on Friday night 80-71 to be one win away from back-to-back championships with the Cyclones not only losing the game, but also Elizajane Loader to a dislocated shoulder.
Rockhampton needed to dig deep and did so to finish strongly to win Game 2 on Saturday night 81-76 to set up the decider on Sunday afternoon with the championship at stake.
Having struggled with her shot all season including going 0/11 from deep in Game 2, Erin Bollmann hit an early triple for Northside to give the home team a good start which ended up at 9-2 with a jumper to Jess McDowell-White in the opening five minutes.
Scoring just two points in more than the first six minutes wasn’t ideal for Rockhampton, but it was Sydneysimone Wright who immediately gave a spark hitting a three-pointer just seconds after subbing into the contest.
It was still the Wizards clinging to the 16-12 lead by the end of the first quarter but the offence started to find more of a flow for the Cyclones in the second period and by half-time scores were locked at 36-36.
It was the best possible start to the second half for Rockhampton with consecutive buckets to captain Lara McSpadden and the worst opening for the Wizards when Bollmann went off having injured her hand and she wouldn’t return.
It was Wright who continued to provide the X-factor for the Cyclones and when she hit another three-pointer following an offensive rebound, Rockhampton was out to a nine-point lead midway through the third quarter.
She made another shortly after to push the lead out to 10 points and by three quarter-time it was the Cyclones out to an 11-point advantage.
Rockhampton had picked up a sniff of the championship and weren’t going to let the chance slip and outscored Northside 20 points to 10 to secure the eventual 21-point triumph.
It's a memorable championship for the Cyclones and coach Drew Fenton with Lauren Heard winning the Grand Final MVP award finishing up the series with 10 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and two steals in the deciding Game 3.
It was Sydneysimone Wright who was the only player to hit the court off the bench in the game for the Cyclones and she came up huge with 23 points, three rebounds and three assists on shooting 7/10 from behind the three-point arc.
Captain Lara McSpadden also provided 19 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks and two assists in a huge performance with Morgan Yaeger contributing 14 points, five boards and two assists, and Sam Bowman 14 points, six rebounds, six steals and two assists.
It will be a tough loss to stomach for the Wizards after winning Game 1 of the series and being at home with the chance of going back-to-back, but having already lost Kelsey McDermott to a knee injury and then losing Erin Bollmann for the second half of Game 3, they ran out of gas.
Jess McDowell-White finished with 13 points, six assists and four rebounds in Game 3 for the Wizards with Bollmann having 13 points, three boards and two steals before her hand injury.
Courtney Middap also provided 12 points on 4/8 three-point shooting off the bench with MVP AJ Johnson having nine points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two steals, and Nadeen Payne eight points and five boards.
NORTHSIDE WIZARDS 59 (Bollmann 13, J McDowell-White 13, Middap 12)
ROCKHAMPTON CYCLONES 80 (Wright 23, McSpadden 19, Bowman 14, Yaeger 14)
