Miela Goodchild's 34 points weren’t quite enough against the Townsville Flames in Friday night's NBL1 North but 22 points and 21 rebounds from Matt Kenyon helped the North Gold Coast Seahawks win in overtime.
The two women's matches on Friday in the NBL1 North saw the Townsville Flames beat the North Gold Coast Seahawks 77-71 and the Mackay Meteorettes defeat the Brisbane Capitals 84-71.
The men's match ups then saw the Seahawks defeat the Townsville Heat 109-97 in overtime and the Mackay Meteors beat the Capitals 92-73.
RECAP NBL1 NORTH | ROUND 1 SUNDAY
WOMEN
Townsville Flames (77) defeated North Gold Coast Seahawks (71)
The Townsville Flames came from behind and shook off a 34-point outburst from Miela Goodchild for the 77-71 home win on Friday night.
Townsville were at home for the first time in 2024 after splitting their road trip in Round 1 with a win over Mackay and loss to Rockhampton hosting a Seahawks team who opened their season winning against the Logan Thunder.
With Perth Lynx WNBL star Miela Goodchild on fire, the Seahawks started strongly on the road to lead by as much as five points in the first quarter and six in the second before holding on to the 38-34 lead at the half-time break.
Townsville turned things back their way in the third quarter by going on a 7-0 scoring run and to open up a seven-point lead, which grew to 11 in the fourth quarter and they held out the Seahawks down the stretch for the six-point victory.
Indiah Bowyer finished with 22 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals in the win for the Flames with Saffron Shiels contributing 19 points, nine boards, seven assists and two steals.
Alex Fowler also had 16 points, five rebounds and three assists, and Ella Tofaeono eight points and nine boards.
Miela Goodchild was outstanding for North Gold Coast putting up 34 points and nine rebounds on shooting 13/19 from the floor, 3/6 from three-point land and 5/5 at the free-throw line.
Grace Champion also had 16 points on 4/6 three-point shooting for the Seahawks with Mikaela Ruef contributing seven points, 17 rebounds and eight assists.
It's the only game of the round for Townsville while the Seahawks back up on Saturday against the Cairns Dolphins at 6:30pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App.
TOWNSVILLE FLAMES 77 (Bowyer 22, Shiels 19, Fowler 16)
NORTH GOLD COAST SEAHAWKS 71 (Goodchild 34, Champion 16, Heremaia 8)
Mackay Meteorettes (84) defeated Brisbane Capitals (71)
Taylor Mole finished with 30 points and the Mackay Meteorettes came from behind for the eventual 84-71 home victory on Friday against the Brisbane Capitals.
Mackay opened the season with a home loss to Townsville while Brisbane also went down big to the defending champion Northside Wizards so both teams were looking to open their accounts at Mackay Basketball Stadium.
The Meteorettes made a fast start on their home floor to lead by as much as 10 points in the opening quarter, but the Caps did well to work back into the contest.
Brisbane even grabbed the lead briefly in the second quarter before by half-time it was Mackay clinging to the 45-41 advantage.
The Capitals took over in the third quarter as well to outscore Mackay 20 points to 12 to lead by as much as five, but it was all the Meteorettes on their home floor who dug deep and delivered a massive finish.
Mackay ended up delivering 27 points to 10 in the final period to claim the 17-point win and open their account for 2024.
Taylor Mole put up a huge performance for Mackay made up of 30 points, eight rebounds and three assists while hitting 3/6 from three-point range and 9/12 from the free-throw line.
Samantha Haiby also delivered 20 points, five assists, four rebounds and four steals on 10/11 free-throw shooting with Chelsea Brook contributing 14 points, five boards and two assists, and Phoebe Holmes nine points, three assists and two steals.
Megan Mullings ended up with 16 points and 13 rebounds for Brisbane with Hannah Hank contributing 12 points and six boards, Hannah Young 11 points and four rebounds, Georgia Dale 11 points, seven boards and three assists, and Hilary Fuller 10 points and five rebounds.
The Caps stay on the road on Saturday to take on the Rockhampton Cyclones at 5:30pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App.
MACKAY METEORETTES 84 (Mole 30, Haiby 20, Brook 14)
BRISBANE CAPITALS 71 (Mullings 16, Hank 12, Dale 11, Young 11)
MEN
Townsville Heat (97) lost to North Gold Coast Seahawks (109)
A monster 22-point, 21-rebound game from Matt Kenyon helped lift the North Gold Coast Seahawks to the 109-97 road win over the Townsville Heat in overtime.
Townsville split its road double last weekend to Mackay and Rockhampton ahead of hosting the Seahawks on Friday who started their season losing by 47 points to the Logan Thunder.
Things started in a similar fashion with Townsville managing to lead 27-19 as well by quarter-time and then the Heat's advantage got out to as much 13 in the second quarter.
However, North Gold Coast dug deep to turn the tide with their own 13-0 run to get back into the contest before leading 48-42 at half-time.
The second half would prove a seesaw affair with no more than six points ever separating the two teams setting up the grandstand finish.
After Harry Morris hit two free-throws to put Townsville up by six points with 2:45 on the clock, Kane Bishop landed a three in response for the Seahawks to bring the margin back to three.
Jaze Morris then hit another triple to lock scores up with just over a minute to play before Ethan Betts and Bishop traded buckets.
Eventually out of a timeout it came down to a look inside from Betts that didn’t fall and the game went to overtime locked at 92-92.
It was then all the Seahawks in the extra period as they outscored the Heat 17 points to five to win by 12 and score their first win of 2024.
South East Melbourne Phoenix NBL guard Matt Kenyon was outstanding in more than 42 minutes for the Seahawks finishing with 22 points, 21 rebounds, four steals and two assists.
Cameron Healy ended up top-scoring for North Gold Coast with 31 points, 11 rebounds and six assists with Kane Bishop contributing 21 points and eight rebounds, and Nathaniel Salmon 16 points.
Matthew Rees finished with 25 points and eight rebounds on 11/19 shooting for Townsville with Harry Morris contributing 22 points and six boards, and Ethan Betts 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
It's the only game of the round for Townsville while the Seahawks back up on Saturday against the Cairns Marlins at 8:30pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App.
TOWNSVILLE HEAT 97 (Rees 25, Morris 22, Betts 19)
NORTH GOLD COAST SEAHAWKS 109 (Healy 31, Kenyon 22, Bisho 21)
Mackay Meteors (92) defeated Brisbane Capitals (73)
The Mackay Meteors made it two from two to start the season beating the Brisbane Capitals 92-73 at home on Friday night.
Mackay started its season also winning at home in the opening round to the Townsville Heat while the Caps lost their first match of 2024 on the road to the Northside Wizards.
The Meteors were back home at Mackay Basketball Stadium to open Round 2 and it took the home side no time to work their way on top to be leading 33-21 after one.
The Meteors were still leading 50-40 by half-time before then pulling away further in the second half to lead by as much 16 points in the third frame, and 21 in the fourth before winning by 19 points to start the season 2-0.
Todd Blanchfield is now a 402-game NBL veteran and has returned home to Mackay this season after helping the Gold Coast Rollers reach the Grand Final last season. He put up 21 points and seven rebounds on 4/10 three-point shooting.
Last year's leading scorer Isaac White also had 19 points, five rebounds and five assists with Jerron Jamerson contributing 15 points and three boards, Luca Yates 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Amarco Doyle eight points, three boards and two blocked shots.
Isaih Tueta finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists for Brisbane with Sam McDaniel finishing with 15 points, five rebounds and two assists coming off the best season of his NBL career at the Bullets.
Cameron Thew added 13 points and 12 rebounds, Gabe Hadley 11 points and three assists, and Matthew Johns 10 points, two rebounds and two assists.
The Caps stay on the road on Saturday to take on the Rockhampton Rockets at 7:30pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App.
MACKAY METEORS 92 (Blanchfield 21, White 19, Jamerson 15)
BRISBANE CAPITALS 73 (Tueta 16, McDaniel 5, Thew 13)
