Angus Glover and Tyler Rudolph produced brilliant displays to lift the Eltham Wildcats and Ballarat Miners into the NBL1 South Grand Final with Carley Ernst and Bec Cole dominant for the Waverley Falcons to set up the match up with Keilor Thunder.
RECAP NBL1 SOUTH | SEMI FINALS
WOMEN
Keilor Thunder (96) defeated Ballarat Miners (75)
Issie Bourne, Tera Reed and Maddy Rocci combined for 64 points and 12 three-pointers to fire Keilor Thunder into the NBL1 South Grand Final with the 96-75 win against the Ballarat Miners.
Keilor only narrowly missed out on top spot with the loss to the Knox Raiders to close the regular season, but they still finished second at 19-3 ahead of beating the Dandenong Rangers in the qualifying final.
That saw the Thunder earn home court advantage for the preliminary final at Keilor Stadium up against a Miners team who arrived on an 11-game winning streak and all the momentum.
After closing the regular season winning nine straight, the Miners beat the Eltham Wildcats and Knox Raiders on the way to locking in the preliminary final match up against Keilor with a spot in the Grand Final up for grabs.
It was two star-studded squads as well to set up the tantalising match up and the scores were all tied at 21-21 by the end of the opening period.
Keilor were able to work their way on top in the second term with some impressive three-point shooting to open up an eight-point lead, and still be on top 44-39 at the half-time break.
The Thunder then blew the game open further throughout the second half completing an 11-0 run in the third period on the way to an 18-point advantage.
The margin was 21 points by the final buzzer with Keilor locking away a spot in the Grand Final next Saturday night having won 21 of 24 matches now in 2024.
Issie Bourne, Maddy Rocci and Tera Reed all knocked down four three-pointers apiece in the win for the Thunder with Bourne ending the night with 24 points, 14 rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks.
Reed also ended up with 20 points, five assists and four rebounds with Rocci playing all 40 minutes for 20 points, nine assists, seven boards and three steals.
Penina Davidson also had 19 points, 12 rebounds and three assists for the Thunder with Lily Carmody contributing 13 points, six boards and four assists.
With the firepower Ballarat had in its squad and having an 11-game winning streak, they will be disappointed to fall short in the preliminary final but there was a lot for them to be proud of getting that far.
Chloe Bibby did all she could to keep Ballarat in the contest finishing with 29 points and 13 rebounds on 12/23 shooting from the floor.
Mehryn Kraker added 19 points, nine assists, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks with Abbey Wehrung providing 10 points, eight boards and two assists, Micah Simpson nine points and two assists, and Jaz Shelley eight points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals.
KEILOR THUNDER 96 (Bourne 24, Reed 20, Rocci 20)
BALLARAT MINERS 75 (Bibby 29, Kraker 19, Wehrung 10)
Mount Gambier Pioneers (73) lost to Waverley Falcons (92)
The Waverley Falcons will enter the NBL1 South Grand Final as the hottest team in the competition making it nine straight wins with Bec Cole and Carley Ernst combining for 49 points in the 92-73 road preliminary final win over the Mount Gambier Pioneers.
The Falcons made a slow start to the season despite the presence of Cole and Ernst who were fresh off helping the Southside Flyers to the WNBL championship.
Just making the finals looked a tall order for Waverley having lost eight of the opening 10 matches, but then things started to click under coach Elias Palioyiannis and they won 11 of the last 12 games.
They still only ended up in seventh spot and had their work cut out but were up to the challenge starting with he 26-point elimination final win over the Sandringham Sabres.
They then beat the Dandenong Rangers by 10 points to set up the preliminary final match up with the Pioneers at Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre.
Mount Gambier had ended the regular season in fourth spot but had lost seven of the last 12 games coming into the finals before beating the Knox Raiders in the qualifying final to earn hosting rights for the preliminary final.
The two teams only met once through the regular season and that was way back on April 7 when the Pioneers beat the Falcons by 27 points, but a lot had changed since then and this time around, it was Waverley leading 27-23 by the end of one.
The Falcons extended that lead further with 19 points to 14 in the second frame on the way to the 46-37 half-time advantage.
Waverley continued to control the contest despite the 1000-strong home crowd trying to will Mount Gambier into a Grand Final.
The Falcons scored another 28 points to 18 in the third period on the way to leading by as much as 25 points to end up winning by 19 to lock in a Grand Final appearance with the chance for a first championship in 30 years.
The Falcons have a shot at a first women's championship now since 1994 and will go into the Grand Final on a nine-game winning streak and with two genuine superstars in hot form.
Bec Cole delivered another 26 points, four rebounds and two assists with Carley Ernst adding 23 points, 20 boards and seven assists with 4/8 three-point shooting.
Amelia Todhunter also had 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists, Renae Mokrzycki 15 points and four boards, and Mckenzie Forbes 12 points and three rebounds.
Mount Gambier just never quite recaptured their form of the first half of the season to bow out in the preliminary final with Zitina Aokuso top-scoring with 23 points and 12 rebounds on 11/19 shooting.
Isa Brancatisano also had 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists with Sherrie Calleia contributing 17 points and seven boards, Sam Fatkin nine points, five rebounds and three assists, and Haliegh Reinoehl five points and nine boards.
MOUNT GAMBIER PIONEERS 73 (Aokuso 23, Brancatisano 17, Calleia 17)
WAVERLEY FALCONS 92 (Cole 26, Ernst 23, Mokrzycki 15)
MEN
Frankston Blues (74) lost to Eltham Wildcats (76)
Angus Glover knocked down 10 three-pointers including the go ahead bucket in the dying stages to shoot the Eltham Wildcats into the NBL1 South Grand Final with the 76-74 win over the Frankston Blues.
With a Grand Final spot on the line and with the high-class talent on both sides, it was always going to be a fascinating Saturday night match up at a packed Dreamstreet Lending Arena which will soon be making way for the new stadium.
Frankston had earned the rights to play the preliminary final at home on the back of finishing the regular season in second spot on an eight-game winning streak before beating the Ballarat Miners by 39 points in a qualifying final hammering.
That saw the Blues have last weekend off to await their preliminary final opponent with the Wildcats coming from fifth spot to beat Geelong United first up and then the Mount Gambier Pioneers last week on the road to knock out the regular season champions.
The stage was set for the two teams to battle over a Grand Final spot and with the Wildcats shorthanded in the absence of Ovie Magbegor and Ralph Bissainthe, it was Angus Glover ready to step up.
Having now started pre-season training for NBL25 at the South East Melbourne Phoenix, he came out ready to fire and he hit an early three-pointer, but it was Frankston leading by a point at quarter-time in a low-scoring opening.
By the time Glover knocked down a fourth three-pointer of the second quarter right on the buzzer for half-time, he had helped Eltham to the narrow 37-34 advantage against Frankston.
Glover kept on going in the third quarter too with the Wildcats putting up 23 points to 16 to be leading 60-50 by three quarter-time, but Frankston was on a nine-game winning run and weren’t going to lie down lightly.
By the time Klay Brown and Daniel Trist knocked down three-pointers midway through the final quarter and Frankston were back in front to have all the momentum on their home floor.
Trist hit another triple soon after to put the Blues out to a two-point lead before another three ball from Brown had the home team up by four with 2:45 to play, and it was time for Eltham to respond.
A couple of finishes at the rim from Josh Sykes had the Wildcats back within two points before he also threw down a dunk on the go-ahead pass from Sam Short after a steal with scores level with just over 30 seconds to play.
He turned it into a three-point play to put Eltham up one and the tension was building with the Grand Final spot at stake.
Stokley Chaffee scored to restore Frankston to the lead, but it was always going to be Glover who had the last say in the game.
With the clock running down and the Wildcats down one, he danced his way to a three-point shot, knocked it down to give him 10 for the night to give Eltham the victory to advance to the Grand Final and now attempt to win a first ever championship.
Angus Glover has already proven he is made for the big stage as a championship hero at the Sydney Kings and he came up huge for the Wildcats with 36 points and 10 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes and knocking down 10/18 from three-point territory.
Sam Short added 15 points, six assists and five rebounds, Josh Sykes 15 points, 10 boards, four blocks and three assists, and Owen Foxwell seven points, four assists, three steals and two rebounds.
Not only did the loss end the season of Frankston, but also the remarkable career of Brad Newley who earlier this year retired from the NBL following the Grand Final with Melbourne United and now has also called an end to his NBL1 career.
He did all he could to try and help the Blues into the Grand Final too with nine points in his 15 minutes.
Daniel Trist also ended up with 17 points and 15 rebounds with Stokley Chaffee contributing 15 points and 12 boards, Lachlan Barker 14 points, four assists and three steals, and Lucas Barker five points, four rebounds and four assists.
FRANKSTON BLUES 74 (Trist 17, Chaffee 15, Lachlan Barker 14)
ELTHAM WILDCATS 76 (Glover 36, Short 15, Sykes 15)
Sandringham Sabres (101) lost to Ballarat Miners (103)
Tyler Rudolph banked in a tough mid-range contested shot to take him to 37 points on the night and to shoot the Ballarat Miners into the NBL1 South Grand Final with the 103-101 win in a hotly contested preliminary final with the Sandringham Sabres.
The two teams finished the regular season in third and fourth position respectively on identical 15-7 records so it was always going to be a battle where neither gave ground with a Grand Final spot on the line at Southern Basketball Stadium.
After finishing in fourth position, Sandringham earned the hosting rights of the preliminary final by beating the Mount Gambier Pioneers in the qualifying final to earn a week off.
Ballarat, however, had to shake off a 39-point qualifying final defeat to the Frankston Blues to beat the Dandenong Rangers last week to lock in their preliminary final place.
It was a hot start from the Sabres with Shea Ili leading their charge to help them open up a double-figure advantage and to be leading 32-24 by the end of the first quarter.
Ballarat responded strongly with 32 points to 22 in the second frame and that meant it was the visitors leading 56-54 going into the half-time interval.
The Miners were able to keep that momentum going to lead by as much as nine points in the third quarter, but the momentum swings continued and the Sabres would score 13 consecutive points.
That saw Sandringham leading by six points following three free-throws from Ili with just over five minutes to play.
Tyler Rudolph responded for Ballarat with a three-pointer to halve that deficit and he made another shortly after to tie scores up with 3:45 to play, and then it was Ned Renfree putting the Miners back in front.
The twists continued with Tanner Krebs bringing Sandringham back level before Majok Majok grabbed an offensive rebound and scored for Ballarat to lead once more.
Dane Pineau followed suit up the other to level scores once more before it was three free-throws from Luke Rosendale. Tom Koppens responded with a triple for the Sabres and scores were still level with just over a minute to play.
In the end, the biggest play of the night was Rudolph pulling up for a shot at the foul line which he banked in to give Ballarat the lead by two.
Sandringham had time out of a timeout and Krebs had a good look at the three that wouldn’t fall. He did grab the offensive rebound and passed up the jumper for a triple from Dave Barlow. That didn’t go either and Ballarat won by two to advance to the Grand Final.
It has been a tremendous coaching performance in his first season in charge at the Miners for West Australian Luke Brennan who made the move to join the South East Melbourne Phoenix in the NBL as well last year.
Tyler Rudolph produced another match-winning performance for Ballarat with 37 points, five rebounds and three steals on 15/24 shooting from the floor, 4/5 from three-point territory and 3/3 at the free-throw line.
Luke Rosendale also had 21 points on 4/6 shooting from behind the arc with Nick Stoddart contributing 11 points, Majok Majok 11 points, 16 rebounds and two blocks, Zac Dunmore 10 points, and Ned Renfree nine points and four boards.
Sandringham were ever so close to the Grand Final and Shea Ili did all he could finishing with 31 points, six assists and five rebounds.
His Melbourne United NBL teammate Tanner Krebs also had 17 points and 10 rebounds with Tom Koppens providing 15 points and five boards, CJ Asuncion-Byrd 13 points and three rebounds, and Dane Pineau four points and 13 rebounds.
SANDRINGHAM SABRES 101 (Ili 31, Krebs 17, Koppens 15)
BALLARAT MINERS 103 (Rudolph 37, Rosendale 21, Majok 11, Stoddart 11)
