Featured images:Gordon Greaves (Cairns Basketball) / Judd Green
It was a big night for the defending NBL1 North champions on Friday with statement wins for the Northside Wizards and Ipswich Force while Kody Stattmann put up 43 points for the Cairns Marlins and the South West Metro Pirates held out the Dolphins.
The two women's games in the NBL1 North on Friday night saw the Northside Wizards beat the Ipswich Force 92-74 and the South West Metro Pirates defeat the Cairns Dolphins 71-67.
The men's fixtures then saw Ipswich defeat Northside 111-82 and Cairns down the South West Metro Pirates 98-85.
RECAP NBL1 NORTH | ROUND 10 SUNDAY
WOMEN
Cairns Dolphins (67) lost to South West Metro Pirates (71)
Even without the two stars of their breakthrough win last weekend, the Cairns Dolphins went ever so close to back-to-back wins before the South West Metro Pirates held them out to win 71-67.
The Dolphins were fresh off their first win of the season last Saturday night against the Gold Coast Rollers, but it was Mia Loyd and Teyahna Bond instrumental in that victory.
Neither was available to play on Friday night at Trinity Ford Stadium against the Pirates with South West Metro arriving in Far North Queensland looking for a fourth straight win and to break into the top six.
Despite the absence of Loyd and Bond, Cairns looked capable of making it consecutive wins when leading by seven points during the second quarter, but the Pirates hit back and were leading 33-30 by half-time.
South West Metro then took charge for a lot of the second half to end up leading by as much as 16 points, but Cairns kept on fighting and did cut the final deficit to four points.
The win is a fourth in-a-row to the Pirates who improve to a 7-5 record on the season to close in on a playoff position with Leah Scott delivering 21 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Taya Hanson added 21 points, five steals, four rebounds and four assists, Alana Fraser eight points, five boards, three assists and two steals, and Bronte Corke eight points and two rebounds.
The Dolphins are now 1-12 on the season despite another encouraging performance with Samantha Keltos finishing with 18 points and 18 rebounds.
Amy Lewis also had 16 points and five assists, Taryn Bond 15 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals, and Leichan Williams 10 points.
The Pirates back up in the Far North to take on the Townsville Flames on Saturday while Cairns is next in action next Friday at home to Mackay.
CAIRNS DOLPHINS 67 (Keltos 18, Lewis 16, Bond 15)
SOUTH WEST METRO PIRATES 71 (Hanson 21, Scott 21, Corke 8, Fraser 8)
Ipswich Force (74) lost to Northside Wizards (92)
The Northside Wizards dominated the first half to set up their 92-74 win over the Ipswich Force to remain undefeated in their championship defence.
The Wizards arrived at JBS Stadium putting their unbeaten record on the line this season up against an Ipswich team having won just once so far in 2024.
It was an emphatic start to the contest from the Wizards as they went on a 12-0 scoring run in the opening period to end up leading by 17, and being up by that margin by quarter-time.
Northside then continued to build on that to lead by as much as 27 points in the second quarter and even though Ipswich did well to fight the game out from there, it would prove a match winning advantage for the defending champions.
The Wizards went on to score the 18-point victory to improve to a 14-0 record on the season with Erin Bollmann continuing her hot form with another 23 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals.
Nadeen Payne also had 19 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals, AJ Johnson 15 points, 12 boards, five assists and four steals, Kelsey McDermott 13 points and four assists, and Alice O'Driscoll 10 points and five rebounds.
Ipswich is now 1-11 on the season with Kahlaijah Dean top-scoring with 22 points to go with three rebounds and three assists.
Amanda Cahill added 18 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and two blocks while Claire Fraser contributed 12 points and three boards, Kate Head 10 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals, and Iris Cubit nine points and three boards.
Ipswich backs up to play away to the Sunshine Coast Phoenix on Saturday while the Wizards don't play again until hosting the South West Metro Pirates next Saturday.
IPSWICH FORCE 74 (Dean 22, Cahill 18, Fraser 12)
NORTHSIDE WIZARDS 92 (Bollmann 23, Payne 19, Johnson 15)
MEN
Cairns Marlins (98) defeated South West Metro Pirates (85)
Kody Stattmann put up 43 points with eight three-pointers to lift the Cairns Marlins to the 98-85 home victory against the South West Metro Pirates.
The Marlins were back home at Trinity Ford Stadium trying to hit back from losing four of their past five matches up against a Pirates team who arrived in the Tropical Far North also having lost their last couple.
Kody Stattmann just wasn’t going to let the Marlins lose again, though, as they needed to win to keep their playoff hopes alive and he helped the home team to a 30-20 lead by quarter-time.
That lead for Cairns continued to grow throughout the evening and got out to 16 points in the second quarter, to 26 in the third and by the final buzzer the Marlins held out the fast finishing Pirates to win by 13.
The victory improves Cairns to a 6-7 record on the season to remain in the playoff hunt with Kody Stattmann putting together an unstoppable performance with 43 points, seven rebounds and two assists.
He shot 14/24 from the field, 8/15 from three-point range and 7/8 at the free-throw line.
Ky Stattmann also had 16 points, five rebounds and five assists, Kian Dennis 13 points, five boards and two steals, Jaylen Pitman 12 points, two rebounds and two assists, and Josh Kunen 11 points, 11 boards and five assists.
The Pirates are now 4-8 on the season having lost three in-a-row despite getting 29 points, five assists and three rebounds on 7/15 three-point shooting from Kai Woodfall.
Brendan Teys also ended up with 20 points, four rebounds and three assists, Ben Volkman 13 points, 11 boards and three assists, Tobias Rotegaard nine points, six rebounds and three assists, and Jeremy McLaughlin eight points, 11 boards and six assists.
The Pirates back up in the Far North to take on the Townsville Heat on Saturday while Cairns is next in action next Friday at home to Mackay.
CAIRNS MARLINS 98 (Kody Stattmann 43, Ky Stattmann 16, Dennis 13)
SOUTH WEST METRO PIRATES 85 (Woodfall 29, Teys 20, Volkman 13)
Ipswich Force (111) defeated Northside Wizards (82)
The Ipswich Force were able to breathe some life back into their championship defence with the return of Deng Deng helping them to the 111-82 win at home over the Northside Wizards.
Having lost its past five matches, Ipswich was slipping from playoff calculations as defending champions and it's still going to be some feat to make it, but having a big three of Nathan Sobey, Deng Deng and DJ Mitchell sure gave them a boost against the Wizards at JBS Stadium.
The Wizards were looking to back up a last up win over the North Gold Coast Seahawks, but the Force started strongly to be leading 29-18 by quarter-time.
Ipswich continued to build on that lead to be out to a 19-point advantage in the second term before going into half-time leading 59-42.
Even with Northside completing a 17-0 run of their own in the third quarter, the Force remained in control with their lead as much as 30 in the second half before they ended up winning by 29.
The win keeps Ipswich at least some chance of still reaching the playoffs as defending champs with a 4-8 record with Nathan Sobey putting up 30 points, eight rebounds and three steals.
DJ Mitchell also delivered 23 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals on 8/13 shooting from the floor, 3/6 from downtown and 4/5 at the foul line.
Deng Deng added 18 points, five rebounds and three assists with Henry Pwono contributing 10 points, seven boards, five assists and two steals, and Jason Ralph six points, six rebounds and five assists.
The Wizards are now 4-10 on the season with Lual Diing finishing with 23 points, seven rebounds, five steals and four assists on 9/14 shooting from the field and 3/5 from downtown.
Jackson Makoi also had 13 points and nine assists, Nikau McCullough 17 points, two assists and two steals, and Jed Richardson 11 points and four rebounds on 5/5 shooting from the field despite going 1/7 at the foul line.
Ipswich backs up to play away to the Sunshine Coast Phoenix on Saturday while the Wizards don't play again until hosting the South West Metro Pirates next Saturday.
IPSWICH FORCE 111 (Sobey 30, Mitchell 23, Deng 18)
NORTHSIDE WIZARDS 82 (Diing 23, McCullough 17, Makoi 13)
