Recap NBL1 North | Round 6 Sunday

Featured images: Taylor Earnshaw Photography / Megan Low

The Northside Wizards pulled off a remarkable fightback to beat the Rockhampton Cyclones in the NBL1 North Grand Final rematch before Rockhampton's men won big along with a pair of wins for Brisbane Capitals and North Gold Coast Seahawks.

Sunday's women's results in the NBL1 North saw the North Gold Coast Seahawks defeat the South West Metro Pirates 75-67, the Northside Wizards down the Rockhampton Cyclones 70-63 and the Brisbane Capitals beat the Sunshine Coast Phoenix 79-64.

The men's results then saw the Seahawks defeat the Pirates 89-81, the Rockhampton Rockets beat the Wizards 110-94, and the Capitals down the Phoenix 94-76.

RECAP NBL1 NORTH | ROUND 6 SATURDAY

WOMEN

North Gold Coast Seahawks (75) defeated South West Metro Pirates (67)

The North Gold Coast Seahawks delivered another solid all-round performance to keep on winning with the 75-67 victory at home to the South West Metro Pirates.

The Seahawks were back home at Runaway Bay Stadium looking to continue their impressive form hosting a Pirates team who had also gone down at home the previous night to the Southern Districts Spartans.

It was a hot start from the Seahawks on their home floor racing out to a 14-point lead in the first quarter which got out to 15 in the second frame before they were leading 43-32 at the half-time break.

The lead did get out to as much as 15 points again in the second half and while South West Metro kept on fighting to keep things interesting, North Gold Coast were able to maintain a handy enough lead to end up winning by eight points.

It's a sixth straight victory for the Seahawks as they improve to a 6-1 record with Miela Goodchild producing another 22 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Kendell Heremaia also had 15 points and two rebounds with Mikaela producing another 14 points, 24 boards, six assists and two blocked shots, Majella Carey 15 points and five rebounds, and Jessica Relf five points, five boards and eight assists.

The Pirates are now 3-4 following the double loss weekend with Leah Scott putting up 31 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and three steals while knocking down 4/8 from three-point range and 5/5 at the foul line.

Alana Fraser also had nine points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Atawhai Pepene-Davis nine points and an assist.

The Seahawks will be back home to the Mackay Meteorettes on Friday night with the Pirates on the road to the Ipswich Force on Saturday.

NORTH GOLD COAST SEAHAWKS 75 (Goodchild 22, Carey 15, Heremaia 15)

SOUTH WEST METRO PIRATES 67 (Scott 31, Fraser 9, Pepene-Davis 9)

Rockhampton Cyclones (63) lost to Northside Wizards (70)

It was a Grand Final rematch in the NBL1 North that didn’t disappoint with the Northside Wizards coming from 10 points down in the fourth quarter for the thrilling 70-63 victory.

The two teams came into the match up in their first meeting since last year's Grand Final series with perfect records so far in 2024 with the Wizards having won all seven matches and Cyclones having won their opening five of the season.

The stage couldn’t have been set any better for the rematch between the two teams who fought over last year's championship and it would prove to be quite the contest with plenty of momentum swings.

The Cyclones did have revenge on their minds and opened up a 10-point lead in the first quarter but the lead was back to just three by quarter-time.

Rockhampton were still leading 34-28 by the half-time break but it was the Wizards' turn to take over in the third frame with 23 points to 16 to open up their own 51-50 lead by three quarter-time.

It would turn out to be quite the eventful fourth quarter with the Cyclones back out to a 10-point lead with six minutes to play after a couple of free-throws to Morgan Yaeger.

Northside were staring down the barrel at a first loss of the season but the Wizards weren’t done with yet and the remarkable fightback started with a three-point play from Nadeen Payne.

AJ Johnson then hit a couple of buckets to make it a three-point ball game and free-throws from Erin Bollmann then levelled scores up to set up the big finish.

Buckets to Jess McDowell-White and Bollmann had the Wizards out to a four-point lead and from there they scored the seven-point win in remarkable fashion to improve to 8-0 on the season.

AJ Johnson was outstanding for the Wizards with 30 points, 16 rebounds, three steals and two assists while Jess McDowell-White delivered 15 points, eight boards, four steals and two assists, and Nadeen Payne 13 points and eight rebounds.

Erin Bollmann also had another 12 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

It's a heartbreaking way for the Cyclones to suffer their first loss of the season with Morgan Yaeger finishing with 25 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Lauren Heard contributed 16 points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals while Sam Bowman added 13 points and 15 boards, Elizajane Loader had 10 assists and Lara McSpadden 10 rebounds.

Rockhampton will head to the Top End to face the Darwin Salties now on Saturday night with Northside to host the Southern Districts Spartans.

ROCKHAMPTON CYCLONES 63 (Yaeger 25, Heard 16, Bowman 13)

NORTHSIDE WIZARDS 70 (Johnson 30, McDowell-White 15, Payne 13)

Sunshine Coast Phoenix (64) lost to Brisbane Capitals (79)

The Brisbane Capitals have now won three straight matches in the NBL1 North with Sunday's 79-64 road victory against the Sunshine Coast Phoenix.

The Phoenix were back home at Maroochydore Stadium on the back of their first win of the season last week against the Cairns Dolphins as they hosted a Capitals team looking for a third consecutive win.

Sunshine Coast were looking to start building some momentum this season on the back of that win and the Phoenix did lead by five early on, but the Capitals soon worked on top to be leading 22-17 by quarter-time.

Brisbane would remain in front the rest of the afternoon with the lead for the visitors growing to 11 points in the second period, 13 in the third and 21 in the fourth before the Capitals scored the 15-point victory.

That's three wins in-a-row now for Brisbane to improve them to a 4-4 record on the season with Lil Dart terrific with 23 points, six assists and five rebounds.

Megan Mullings added 18 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots with Georgia Dale contributing 14 points, seven boards, six assists and two steals, and Hannah Hank 12 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.

Sunshine Coast is now 1-6 with the loss with Carlie Smith again top-scoring with 19 points, 11 rebounds and five steals.

Nicola Handreck added 16 points and four rebounds, Haylee Andrews 14 points four assists and three boards, and Madeleine White eight points, three rebounds and two assists.

The two teams will now do it all again albeit at Auchenflower Stadium this coming Saturday night.

SUNSHINE COAST PHOENIX 64 (Smith 19, Handreck 16, Andrews 14)

BRISBANE CAPITALS 79 (Dart 23, Mullings 18, Dale 14)

MEN

North Gold Coast Seahawks (89) defeated South West Metro Pirates (81)

The North Gold Coast Seahawks built up a commanding lead and then held out the South West Metro Pirates for the 89-81 home Sunday win.

The Seahawks were making their only appearance of the weekend back home at Runaway Bay Stadium to play host to a Pirates team who went down on Saturday at home to the Southern Districts Spartans.

South West Metro were still without key pair Lamar Patterson and Lachlan Anderson for the match up with the Seahawks and the home team wasted no time opening up a 13-point advantage in the first quarter.

The lead for North Gold Coast extended to 17 points in the second frame and then 25 in the third, and they were still up 18 during the fourth.

However, South West Metro didn’t throw in the towel and outscored the Seahawks 27 points to 15 in the final period to get back as close as six in the final minute.

They couldn’t quite get any closer and North Gold Coast went on to win by eight to improve to 4-4 on the season with Kane Bishop putting up 23 points, 12 rebounds and five assists on shooting 9/14 from the field and 3/4 from downtown.

Cameron Healy contributed 20 points, six rebounds and four assists, Nathaniel Salmon 17 points and seven boards, and Matt Kenyon 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

South West Metro is now 2-5 with the pair of defeats this weekend with Ben Volkman delivering 26 points and 13 rebounds on 11/21 shooting from the floor.

Kai Woodfall added 22 points, Roman Siulepa 15 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, and Nikhil Peters nine points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals.

The Seahawks will be back home to the Mackay Meteors on Friday night with the Pirates on the road to the Ipswich Force on Saturday.

NORTH GOLD COAST SEAHAWKS 89 (Bishop 23, Healy 20, Salmon 17)

SOUTH WEST METRO PIRATES 81 (Volkman 26, Woodfall 22, Siulepa 15)

Rockhampton Rockets (110) defeated Northside Wizards (94)

Xavier Ford was blistering on his way to 37 points and the Rockhampton Rockets proved too strong at home for the Northside Wizards with the 110-94 victory.

Rockhampton was playing its only game of the weekend on Sunday afternoon at Bravus Arena having won its past two matches hosting a Wizards team who won the first two games of the season but have lost five straight since.

The Rockets made a strong start to be leading 31-22 at quarter-time before the two teams combined for 61 points in a high-scoring second quarter with Rockhampton still on top 62-52 by half-time.

Rockhampton extended that advantage out to 15 points in the third quarter and then 18 in the fourth on the way to the eventual 16-point win to improve to 3-3 on the season.

Xavier Ford produced a standout performance for the Rockets with 37 points, six rebounds and six steals on shooting 13/25 from the floor, 4/9 from three-point range and 7/11 at the foul line.

Nighael Ceaser also put up 25 points, nine rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks with Matur Maker contributing 25 points, 13 boards and four assists, and Ben Tweedy 14 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals.

Northside is now 2-6 having lost the last six matches with Jamie Ahale scoring 32 points to go with six rebounds, three assists and two steals on shooting 6/19 from beyond the arc.

Lual Diing also had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Deshawn Ross-Paiwan 17 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals, and Mitchell Stanton 14 points, five boards and three assists.

Rockhampton will head to the Top End to face the Darwin Salties now on Saturday night with Northside to host the Southern Districts Spartans.

ROCKHAMPTON ROCKETS 110 (Ford 37, Maker 25, Ceaser 25)

NORTHSIDE WIZARDS 94 (Ahale 32, Diing 20, Ross-Paiwan 17)

Sunshine Coast Phoenix (76) lost to Brisbane Capitals (94)

The Brisbane Capitals made it consecutive wins for the first time this season with the 94-76 Sunday victory on the road to the Sunshine Coast Phoenix.

Both teams were playing their only game of the round on Sunday afternoon at Maroochydore Stadium with the Phoenix trying to be the first team to five wins this season and the Capitals to back up their win last week over the Southern Districts Spartans.

Sunshine Coast made a fast start on its home floor racing out to an early 10-point advantage but by quarter-time it was Brisbane with the narrow 23-22 advantage.

The Caps then pushed their lead out to double-figures in the second period and then went into the half-time break on top 49-41.

It was back to just a seven-point margin by three quarter-time, but then the Capitals secured the win with 25 points to 14 in the final stanza to end up winning by 18.

The victory improves the Caps to a 4-4 record on the season with Brisbane Bullets guard Sam McDaniel producing 21 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and four steals on 10/17 shooting from the floor.

His Bullets teammate Gabe Hadley added 21 points, three rebounds and three assists on 5/11 three-point shooting with Isaih Tueta contributing 19 points, four assists and three steals, and Matthew Johns 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Geordan Papacostas also had seven points and 10 rebounds, and Cameron Thew seven points and four steals.

The Phoenix are now 4-2 unable to back up last week's win over Cairns with Jamaal Robateau top-scoring with 19 points, eight rebounds and two assists.

Kobe McDowell-White also ended up with 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals, Nelson Kahler 16 points, 12 boards and five assists, and Duom Dawam 15 points, seven rebounds and two assists.

The two teams will now do it all again albeit at Auchenflower Stadium this coming Saturday night.

SUNSHINE COAST PHOENIX 76 (Robateau 19, Kahler 16, McDowell-White 16)

BRISBANE CAPITALS 94 (McDaniel 21, Hadley 21, Tueta 19)