Feature images via: Shane Panther | Scott Gick
The shorthanded Bendigo Braves women hit back from their NBL1 South streak ending the night before to a Sandringham Sabres team who kept winning on Sunday while Keilor Thunder's men hit 24 threes in a win over the Waverley Falcons.
The three women's Sunday NBL1 South matches saw the Bendigo Braves beat the Ringwood Hawks 109-74, Keilor Thunder defeat the Waverley Falcons 79-65, and the Sandringham Sabres down the Nunawading Spectres 79-71.
The men's fixtures then saw the Hawks beat the Braves 89-77, the Thunder defeat the Falcons 107-101, and the Spectres down the Sabres 83-77.
RECAP NBL1 SOUTH | ANZAC ROUND SATURDAY
RECAP NBL1 SOUTH | ANZAC ROUND FRIDAY
WOMEN
Bendigo Braves (109) defeated Ringwood Hawks (74)
The Bendigo Braves wasted no time hitting back from a first loss in almost two years beating the Ringwood Hawks 109-74 the next day despite only having seven players suiting up.
After losing the 2022 Grand Final in the NBL1 South, Bendigo went through all of 2023 undefeated winning not only the NBL1 South championship but then also going through unbeaten to take the National Finals crown in Perth.
The Braves then won their opening five matches of the 2024 season to have won 30 consecutive games in the NBL1 South up until Saturday night's shock loss to the Sandringham Sabres on their home floor.
They were back at Red Energy Arena on Sunday afternoon but the absence of Amy Atwell and Ally Wilson was going to make for a fascinating match up against a Hawks team also having lost just once to date in 2024.
That set up a tantalising match up and even more so by quarter-time with scores tied at 25-25.
Bendigo began to pull away in the second quarter and ended up going on a 13-0 scoring run to open up a 16-point advantage, and to be leading 45-36 at the half-time interval.
The Braves went on with the job from there even with just the seven players available to play opening up an 18-point lead in the third term, and 35 in the fourth which was the final margin.
With the absence of Amy Atwell and Ally Wilson, Bendigo got some huge performances from those remaining championship stars with Megan McKay producing another 31 points and 13 rebounds on 13/21 shooting.
Cassidy McLean stepped up to deliver 24 points, 13 rebounds and four assists with 5/6 three-point shooting while Maddie Sexton hit 4/13 from downtown for 21 points, eight boards, four steals and three assists.
Kasey Burton also nailed 5/11 from behind the arc with 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists with Kelly Wilson contributing eight points, eight rebounds, 13 assists and five steals, and Caitlin Richardson seven points, three boards and three assists.
It was just a second loss of the season for Ringwood despite Lana Hollingsworth putting up 17 points, three rebounds and three assists.
Ahlise Hurst added 12 points, three assists and two rebounds with Jack Animam contributing eight points, 11 boards and four assists, and Annabel Deerbon eight points and two rebounds.
The Braves will hit the road to take on the Waverley Falcons next Saturday while Ringwood will be also away to the Eltham Wildcats.
BENDIGO BRAVES 109 (McKay 31, McLean 24, Sexton 21)
RINGWOOD HAWKS 74 (Hollingsworth 17, Hurst 12, Deerbon 8, Animmn 8)
Keilor Thunder (79) defeated Waverley Falcons (65)
Keilor Thunder fired back from their first loss of the NBL1 South season overcoming the Waverley Falcons 79-65 and their WNBL championship winning stars.
Keilor won its first six matches of the season before going down to the Mount Gambier Pioneers back on Friday night in what was the battle of undefeated NBL1 South teams.
The Thunder were back home at Keilor Stadium on Sunday afternoon playing host to a Waverley team looking to bounce back from a loss as well on Saturday to the Ringwood Hawks.
Keilor came out on a mission to make up for that first loss of 2024 going on a 10-0 run in the first quarter on the way to opening up a 14-point advantage, and to still be leading 23-15 by the end of one.
The Thunder remained in control of the contest the rest of the way to end up leading by 14 points in the second quarter and then 14 throughout the second half which would end up being the final winning margin.
The victory improves Keilor to a 7-1 record on the season with Issie Bourne leading the charge ending up with 19 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Penina Davidson produced a double-double as well made up of 16 points and 12 rebounds with Lily Carmody contributing 16 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals, Maddy Rocci 13 points and 12 assists, and Lilly Rotunno eight points and six steals.
Bec Cole finished with 18 points, four steals and three assists in the loss for Waverley with the Falcons now sitting at 2-5 on the season.
Cole's WNBL championship winning teammate Carley Ernst added 14 points, six rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals with Renae Mokrzycki 14 points and seven boards, and Sharna Thompson 10 points, four rebounds and two assists.
Waverley has the short turnaround to hosting the Dandenong Rangers on Tuesday night while Keilor will be hosting the Ballarat Miners on Saturday.
KEILOR THUNDER 79 (Bourne 19, Davidson 16, Carmody 16)
WAVERLEY FALCONS 65 (Cole 18, Ernst 14, Mokrzycki 14)
Sandringham Sabres (79) defeated Nunawading Spectres (71)
The Sandringham Sabres kept their form going from a dazzling upset of the Bendigo Braves to back it up beating the Nunawading Spectres 79-71 on Sunday.
The Sabres became the first team since the 2022 Grand Final to beat the Braves on Saturday night and they did that in Bendigo before backing up to host the Spectres at Southern Basketball Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Nunawading arrived on the back of also beating the Kilsyth Cobras the night before to open its account for the season so both teams came in with momentum for the Sunday afternoon match up.
Fresh off their first win of 2024, it was the Spectres who got the better of the start too leading by eight points during the first quarter but by quarter-time that advantage was back to just two points.
Sandringham then worked on top in the second term with 25 points to 15 to go into half-time leading 38-30.
The Sabres then took further control in the second half with their lead getting out to as much as 19 points in the final quarter.
The Spectres did keep on fighting and got the final margin back to single-figures, but Sandringham held out for the eight-point win to improve to 5-2 on the season with four wins on the trot.
Funda Nakkasoglu came up massive once again in the win for Sandringham finishing the afternoon with 37 points on the back of shooting 6/14 from behind the arc and 15/16 at the foul line.
Emma Nankervis also put up 14 points and four rebounds for the Sabres, Juna Umezawa 13 points and five boards, and Isis Lopes 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Spectres are now 1-6 on the season following the loss with Bride Kennedy-Hopoate putting up 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Batabe Zempare added 16 points, four boards, three assists and three steals, Isabel Feller 15 points and two assists, and Louise Forsyth nine points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists.
The Sabres remain at home to host the Melbourne Tigers on Saturday with the Spectres at home to the Diamond Valley Eagles on the same evening.
SANDRINGHAM SABRES 79 (Nakkasoglu 37, Nankervis 14, Umezawa 13)
NUNAWADING SPECTRES 71 (Kennedy-Hopoate 17, Zempare 16, Feller 15)
MEN
Bendigo Braves (77) lost to Ringwood Hawks (89)
The Bendigo Braves were more competitive but the absence of their leading scorer meant they didn’t quite have the firepower with the Ringwood Hawks claiming the 89-77 Sunday victory.
It was a tough outing the previous night for Bendigo with the 50-point loss to the Sandringham Sabres in the absence of Rowan Mackenzie.
He still wasn’t back out there on Sunday also at Red Energy Arena against a Ringwood team who arrived looking to snap its own three-game losing slide.
Bendigo did start well on its home floor to be leading by six at quarter-time and still to be on top 44-33 at the half-time break having led in the second term by as much as 15 points.
However, Ringwood got rolling in the second half including putting up 33 points to 10 in the third quarter to end up with their own 18-point lead and to end up winning by 12.
The victory improves the Hawks to a 5-4 record on the season with the Braves now slipping to 3-4 with three consecutive defeats.
Ngor Nai delivered 28 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots in the win for Ringwood including knocking down 5/11 of his three-point attempts.
Jonathan Lawton added 23 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals, Braelen Bridges 14 points and 10 boards, and Harry Sealey 11 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Bendigo did fight valiantly with Andrew Robinson top-scoring with 20 points and seven rebounds while hitting 4/10 from behind the three-point arc.
Billy Smythe also produced 17 points and six rebounds, Lachlan O'Brien 13 points, four assists and three boards, and Koch Bar 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Braves will hit the road to take on the Waverley Falcons next Saturday while Ringwood will be also away to the Eltham Wildcats.
BENDIGO BRAVES 77 (Robinson 20, Smythe 17, L O'Brien 13)
RINGWOOD HAWKS 89 (Nai 28, Lawton 23, Bridges 14)
Keilor Thunder (107) defeated Waverley Falcons (101)
Keilor Thunder delivered a phenomenal shooting performance knocking down 24 three-pointers for the afternoon on the way to the 107-101 victory against the Waverley Falcons.
The Thunder came into the contest at Keilor Stadium on the back of beating the Mount Gambier Pioneers in impressive fashion on Friday night while Waverley were also fresh off defeating the Ringwood Hawks the previous night.
That set up the Sunday afternoon contest to close Anzac Round nicely and what was to come was a blistering three-point shooting performance from the Thunder.
It started from the beginning too and in the first quarter alone Jalen Gibbs hit five three-pointers and Keilor would keep jacking them up throughout the afternoon, and knocking them down at a terrific clip to keep the Falcons at bay.
Keilor would lead 35-23 by quarter-time and they would maintain a similar lead throughout the rest of the contest before winning by six and improving to 5-3 on the season with three straight wins as a result.
The Thunder ended the game shooting 24/48 from behind the three-point arc with Jalen Gibbs going 7/10, Kuany Kuany 7/11 and Kyle Zunic 6/11 to lead the charge with their outside shooting performances.
On the back of that, Kuany finished with 31 points, seven rebounds and four assists with Gibbs having 27 points, five boards and three assists with 22 of those points coming in the first half.
Zunic also had 25 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals with Jayce Beasley contributing nine points, five boards, two assists and two steals, and Trevor Lakes eight points and seven rebounds.
DJ Vasiljevic produced another 26 points, five assists and four rebounds for Waverley on 5/13 three-point shooting with Malik Meunier contributing 16 points and nine rebounds, Matthew McCarthy 15 points and three boards, and Mason Forbes 13 points and 13 rebounds in just 22 minutes.
Waverley has the short turnaround to hosting the Dandenong Rangers on Tuesday night while Keilor will be hosting the Ballarat Miners on Saturday.
KEILOR THUNDER 107 (Kuany 31, Gibbs 27, Zunic 25)
WAVERLEY FALCONS 101 (Vasiljevic 26, Meunier 16, McCarthy 15)
Sandringham Sabres (77) lost to Nunawading Spectres (83)
The Nunawading Spectres blew the Sandringham Sabres away in the third quarter on Sunday to set up the eventual 83-77 victory.
Both teams came into the Sunday match up at Southern Basketball Stadium in winning form with the Sabres on a three-game winning streak including Saturday's 50-point road win in Bendigo while Nunawading had won its last two including against Kilsyth the previous evening.
That set the stage nicely for the Sunday contest which saw Sandringham narrowly leading 28-25 by quarter-time with the home team able to push out to a 12-point advantage in the second term.
They were still up 48-40 at the half-time break, but Nunawading turned the tide spectacularly in the third period as they went on to outscore the Sabres 27 points to 12.
On the back of that, the Spectres opened up an eight-point lead in the last term and then held on from there for the six-point road win to improve to 5-2 on the season.
It was an impressive all-round performance from Nunawading with Jalen Johnson top-scoring with 17 points, four rebounds and three steals with Trendon Hankerson delivering another 16 points, eight boards and two assists.
Kingsley Box also produce 16 points, eight rebounds and two steals with Nicolas Tata contributing 11 points and eight boards, Jack Gandolfo nine points, four assists and three rebounds, and Christian D'Angelo nine points, three boards and two assists.
Sandringham slips to 3-4 with the defeat despite 24 points and four rebounds from Tanner Krebs with his Melbourne United teammate Shea Ili putting up 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and assistant coach Dave Barlow 19 points and five rebounds.
The Sabres remain at home to host the Melbourne Tigers on Saturday with the Spectres at home to the Diamond Valley Eagles on the same evening.
SANDRINGHAM SABRES 77 (Krebs 24, Barlow 19, Ili 13)
NUNAWADING SPECTRES 83 (Johnson 17, Box 16, Hankerson 16)
