Featured image: Trent Moore | @Trent_Moore_Sports_Photography
The Knox Raiders women and Mount Gambier Pioneers men consolidated their top NBL1 South spots with Sunday victories with Alicia Froling putting up 25 points and eight rebounds while Titus Robinson had 24 points as part of a strong team showing.
The three Sunday women's matches saw the Dandenong Rangers beat the Mount Gambier Pioneers 88-52, the Ballarat Miners defeat the Frankston Blues 86-77, and the Knox Raiders down the Nunawading Spectres 98-72.
The men's matches then saw the Raiders beat the Spectres 99-47, the Blues down the Miners 94-69, and the Pioneers defeat the Rangers 86-72.
RECAP NBL1 SOUTH | ROUND 12 SATURDAY
RECAP NBL1 SOUTH | ROUND 12 FRIDAY
WOMEN
Dandenong Rangers (88) defeated Mount Gambier Pioneers (52)
The Dandenong Rangers handed the Mount Gambier Pioneers a second tough road loss in less than 24 hours with the 88-52 Sunday victory.
The Rangers were back home at Dandenong Basketball Stadium fresh off beating the Keilor Thunder the previous night by 27 points while the Pioneers started their road double without Zitina Aokuso and losing to the Nunawading Spectres by 18 points on Saturday.
Right from the outset on Sunday it was a domination from the Rangers with them determined to consolidate their top four position and they opened up a 10-point lead already by quarter-time.
Dandenong then put up another 23 points to 14 in the second term and remained in control leading 46-27 at the half-time break.
The lead continued to grow in the second half and got out to 37 points in the third quarter and 41 in the fourth before the Rangers scored the eventual 36-point victory to improve to a 13-6 record with three straight wins.
Dallas Loughridge provided 15 points, four rebounds and four assists in the win for Dandenong with Imogen Rock contributing 13 points on 3/4 three-point shooting and Nyadiew Puoch another 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Clare Camac also had 12 points, three rebounds and two steals, and Amber Smith 11 points, seven boards and four assists.
It's a double loss weekend for Mount Gambier who now slip to a 12-7 record and into fifth position with Haileigh Reinoehl finishing with 13 points and four rebounds.
Samantha Fatkin added 11 points and three rebounds, and Sherrie Calleia eight points, four boards, two assists and two steals.
The Rangers are on the road now on Saturday against Geelong United with the Pioneers having three home games to finish starting on Friday night against the Knox Raiders.
DANDENONG RANGERS 88 (Loughridge 15, N Puoch 13, Rock 13)
MOUNT GAMBIER PIONEERS 52 (Reinoehl 13, Fatkin 11, Calleia 8)
Frankston Blues (77) lost to Ballarat Miners (86)
There were stars aplenty on either side and in the end the Frankston Blues kept themselves in the playoff mix by overcoming 35 points from Chelsea D'Angelo to score the 86-77 road victory.
The Blues were back on their home floor at Dreamstreet Lending Arena on the back of beating the Casey Cavaliers on Saturday where Lauren Scherf delivered 35 points and 10 rebounds.
They were hosting a Miners team who was also attempting to break into a playoff position and had beaten the Melbourne Tigers the previous night by 25 points to arrive at Frankston on a five-match winning streak.
That set the stage for a tantalising contest between two teams trying to break into the top eight and after Frankston led by two points at quarter-time, Ballarat put up 31 points to 22 in the second period to go into half-time on top 53-46.
Even though Ballarat extended that lead to nine points in the third quarter, Frankston fired back and even hit the front again when Lauren Scherf knocked down a jumper with just over five minutes to play.
That set the stage for a big finish with Abbey Wehrung responding for Ballarat with a huge three-pointer. Chloe Bibby then added another and that was enough to set up the eventual nine-point victory away from home for the Miners.
Ballarat improves to an 11-8 record now with the win with six wins in-a-row to be closing in on a top eight position with Chloe Bibby delivering 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists while knocking down 5/10 from behind the three-point arc.
Abbey Wehrung ended up with 18 points, five rebounds and three assists while Alex Bunton contributed 14 points and 11 boards, Jaz Shelley 13 points, seven assists and four rebounds, and Mehryn Kraker 11 points, six boards and three assists.
Frankston remains further back from a top eight spot now with a 9-9 record with the defeat with Chelsea D'Angelo delivering 35 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals on 7/13 three-point shooting.
Lauren Scherf put up another 19 points and seven rebounds with Lou Brown contributing 13 points, 10 boards, two assists and two steals.
The Miners will be back home on Friday night against the Sandringham Sabres with Frankston to play the Kilsyth Cobras at home on Thursday night.
FRANKSTON BLUES 77 (D'Angelo 35, Scherf 19, Brown 13)
BALLARAT MINERS 86 (Bibby 21, Wehrung 18, Bunton 14)
Nunawading Spectres (72) lost to Knox Raiders (98)
Alicia Froling dominated with 25 points and eight rebounds, and the Knox Raiders maintained their hold on top spot in the NBL1 South with the 98-72 road victory over the Nunawading Spectres.
The Spectres were back on their home floor at Nunawading Basketball Centre for the Sunday match up on the back of a stunning 18-point win over the Mount Gambier Pioneers.
It was another significant test for them up against a Raiders team looking for a ninth straight win and to consolidate top spot following the Saturday night loss for the Keilor Thunder to the Dandenong Rangers.
Nunawading, though, did remain in bottom spot so the challenge was ahead of them and that was even more so the case when Knox started strongly with 31 points to 13 in the first quarter.
The Raiders never gave up control of the contest the rest of the way to end up leading by as much as 26 points in the second frame and 27 in the fourth before eventually securing the 26-point victory.
The win is a ninth in-a-row for Knox who sit a game clear now in top spot at 17-2 with Alicia Froling once again a dominant figure with 25 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots on shooting 10/18 from the floor and 5/6 at the foul line.
Paige Bradley also provided 17 points, eight assists, six rebounds and three steals, Emma Pearce 15 points and eight boards, Rachel Bell 10 points, and Paige Burrows eight points and three assists.
The Spectres remain last with a 3-16 record with Batabe Zempare leading the scoring with 19 points to go with six rebounds.
Jordan Pyle also had 11 points and three assists, Bride Kennedy-Hopoate 11 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Rachel Antoniadou eight points and eight assists.
Knox will now take on the Mount Gambier Pioneers on the road this Friday night with Nunawading on the road to the Ringwood Hawks on Wednesday night.
NUNAWADING SPECTRES 72 (Zempare 19, Pyle 11, Kennedy-Hopoate 11)
KNOX RAIDERS 98 (Froling 25, Bradley 17, Pearce 15)
MEN
Dandenong Rangers (72) lost to Mount Gambier Pioneers (86)
The Mount Gambier Pioneers maintained their hold on top spot in the NBL1 South with the 86-72 road victory against the Dandenong Rangers.
The Rangers were back on their home floor at Dandenong Basketball Stadium fresh off the three-point win over Keilor Thunder the previous night while Mount Gambier also beat the Nunawading Spectres by 17 points.
The Pioneers were again without the services of Nick Marshall as well to take on the Rangers, and it was Dandenong leading by a point at quarter-time.
Mount Gambier did begin to pull away, though, in the second period with 23 points to 15 to go into the half-time break leading 42-35.
From there the Pioneers lead got out to as much as 18 points in the second half and they would end up winning by 14 to make it six wins in succession to improve to a 15-4 record and take a step closer to securing the regular season championship.
Titus Robinson delivered 24 points, four rebounds and three assists in the win for Mount Gambier on 9/15 shooting from the floor but what was most impressive once again was the amount of contributors.
Akech Aliir provided another 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists with Dylan Marshall contributing 15 points and seven boards, Austin Shelley 14 points, three rebounds and two blocks, and Vincent Monaghan eight points and two boards.
Dandenong remains in fourth place despite the defeat with a 12-7 record with Tad Dufelmeier continuing his impressive form with another 27 points, nine rebounds and two steals with 9/12 shooting from the foul line.
Puoch Puoch added 15 points and 18 rebounds for the Rangers, Mason Peatling 12 points and five boards, and Brandon Betson 10 points, four assists and two steals on 3/6 three-point shooting.
The Rangers are on the road now on Saturday against Geelong United with the Pioneers having three home games to finish starting on Friday night against the Knox Raiders.
DANDENONG RANGERS 72 (Dufelmeier 27, Puoch 15, Peatling 12)
MOUNT GAMBIER PIONEERS 86 (Robinson 24, Aliir 17, D Marshall 15)
Frankston Blues (94) defeated Ballarat Miners (69)
The Frankston Blues got plenty of strong contributions as they made it four straight wins with the 94-69 home victory over the Ballarat Miners.
The Blues were back home at Dreamstreet Lending Arena having won their past three matches to be closing in on a top four position and it was the Miners occupying one of those places.
The Miners arrived fresh off a win against the Melbourne Tigers the night before as well so both teams were in form and locked in a fight over a top four position with the end of the regular season rapidly approaching.
It didn't take long for Frankston to take control, though, and the Blues were already leading 24-15 by the end of the opening period.
That lead then ballooned to 22 points in the second quarter and Frankston was in control with the 49-34 lead by the half-time interval.
The Blues retained control throughout the rest of the contest too with the lead growing to 28 points in the second half and in the finish they would score the potentially crucial 25-point win in the battle over top four spots.
As a result of the win, Frankston improves to an 11-7 record with four straight wins to be in fifth position while Ballarat remains in third place with the loss at 13-6.
Frankston ended up with five players scoring in double-figures with Lachlan Barker providing 17 points and two assists while knocking down 4/5 from three-point territory.
Lucas Barker also had 16 points, five assists, four rebounds and four steals with Igor Hadziomerovic providing 15 points, five boards and two assists.
Daniel Trist added 13 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, Brad Newley 12 points and three boards, and Stokley Chaffee six points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Zac Dunmore made 4/6 from three-point range for Ballarat to end up top-scoring with 17 points while Tyler Rudolph added 13 points and five rebounds, Majok Majok 12 points and 12 boards, and Luke Rosendale 10 points and two rebounds.
The Miners will be back home on Friday night against the Sandringham Sabres with Frankston to play the Kilsyth Cobras at home on Thursday night.
FRANKSTON BLUES 94 (Lachlan Barker 17, Lucas Barker 16, Hadziomerovic 15)
BALLARAT MINERS 69 (Dunmore 17, Rudolph 13, Majok 12)
Nunawading Spectres (47) lost to Knox Raiders (99)
The defending champion Knox Raiders produced a dominant showing on the road on Sunday for the eventual 99-47 victory over the Nunawading Spectres.
The Spectres were back home at Nunawading Basketball Centre having lost the previous night to the Mount Gambier Pioneers by 17 points while the Raiders came into the match up not having played since beating the North West Tasmania Thunder by 25 points last Sunday.
The Raiders were fresh as a result, welcomed back Kyle Bowen into the line-up and delivered a dominant showing which began with 36 points to 12 in the opening quarter.
It was another 24 points to eight in the second term for Knox to go into half-time leading 60-20 with the lead continuing to grow in the second half and getting out to as much as 57 points, and setting at 52 in the finish.
The win improves the Raiders into eighth position with an 11-8 record with Brody Nunn landing all five of his three-point attempts on his way to 20 points, five assists and three rebounds.
Anzac Rissetto added 16 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks with Austin Rapp contributing 14 points and eight boards, KJ Feagin 14 points, three rebounds and two assists, and Malith Machar 13 points, six boards and two blocked shots.
Nunawading has lost three straight now to slip to a 9-10 record with Christian D'Angelo top-scoring with 12 points to go with four rebounds and two assists.
Jalen Johnson also had eight points, three rebounds and two steals, and Trendon Hankerson four points and six boards.
Knox will now take on the Mount Gambier Pioneers on the road this Friday night with Nunawading on the road to the Ringwood Hawks on Wednesday night.
NUNAWADING SPECTRES 47 (D'Angelo 12, Johnson 8, Tata 5)
KNOX RAIDERS 99 (Nunn 20, Rissetto 16, Rapp 14, Feagin 14)
