Featured image: Travis Palmieri @traviphotography
Both top seeds in the NBL1 South, Knox Raiders women and Mount Gambier Pioneers men, were knocked out by the Ballarat Miners and Eltham Wildcats respectively on Saturday while the Waverley Falcons women and Ballarat men also advanced.
RECAP NBL1 SOUTH | WEEK 1 FINALS
WOMEN
Knox Raiders (73) lost to Ballarat Miners (77)
The Ballarat Miners made it 11 straight wins to storm into a preliminary final with the 77-73 win over the Knox Raiders in the last ever game at Knox Basketball Stadium.
While the Raiders had finished in top spot at the end of the regular season, they had their 12-game winning streak ended last week by the Mount Gambier Pioneers.
They still had home court advantage for the semi finals in what is the last game at Knox Basketball Stadium but coming up against them was a red hot Miners team on their own 10-game winning streak.
That included the home win over the Eltham Wildcats last week as well to open the playoffs and coach Kennedy Kereama backed in his stars once again to play big minutes, and why not when they include Mehryn Kraker, Chloe Bibby and Abbey Wehrung who would play every second.
It was still a tight contest, though, and Knox were leading by four points at quarter-time before the Raiders extended that advantage to 11 points during the second period.
They were still on top 45-35 at half-time and the lead was a game-high 12 points early in the third and the Miners had to dig deep, but they had too much quality and experience not to make a charge.
However, Knox were still up 58-52 by three quarter-time only to see Ballarat take charge in the fourth quarter.
It was midway through the final term with back-to-back threes from Wehrung and Kraker that brough the Miners level and eventually it was free-throws from Bibby that put them in front.
Knox wasn’t going to let its season slip away easily with Paige Burrows hitting a big triple in the final minute to bring them back within two points.
However, Jaz Shelley responded with a corner three up the other end and that proved the final dagger with the Miners winning by four to make it 11 consecutive victories to set up a preliminary final against Keilor Thunder.
Mehryn Kraker, Chloe Bibby and Abbey Wehrung all played the full 40 minutes for Ballarat with Micah Simpson also out there for 32 and Jaz Shelley 38, and it paid off.
Kraker ended up with 21 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Shelley 19 points, nine boards and five assists with 5/11 three-point shooting.
Wehrung added 17 points, six rebounds and five assists, Bibby 14 points, 16 boards and four assists, and Simpson six points and two rebounds.
It's the season over in straight sets for Knox after finishing the season at 20-2 with the regular season championship with Paige Bradley finishing with 26 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Kiera Rowe added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Raiders, Alicia Froling 10 points and 15 boards, and Leah Santomaggio eight points, two rebounds and two assists.
KNOX RAIDERS 73 (Bradley 26, Rowe 11, Froling 10)
BALLARAT MINERS 77 (Kraker 21, Shelley 19, Wehrung 17)
Dandenong Rangers (86) lost to Waverley Falcons (96)
The Waverley Falcons might have taken some time to warm into the 2024 season but they are now firing at the right time making it an eighth straight win to advance to a preliminary final with the 96-86 road win over the Dandenong Rangers.
Despite having a team possessing Bec Cole and Carley Ernst fresh off the WNBL championship at the Southside Flyers, the Falcons had a rough start to the season winning just three of the first 10 matches.
That meant they had an uphill battle just to qualify for the finals but they warmed to the task winning 11 of the last 12 games to make it and then beat the Sandringham Sabres in style by 26 points in last week's elimination final.
They were coming up against a Dandenong team who did finish the regular season in third spot before losing a qualifying final to Keilor Thunder last week.
However, the Rangers still were at home for the semi-final at Dandenong Basketball Stadium and attempting to avoid a straight sets exit, and the home team was leading by one at quarter-time.
Waverley fired up in the second quarter, though, with 31 points to 26 and that had the visitors leading 49-45 at half-time.
The Falcons worked further on top in the third frame with 27 points to 20 and they would end up building a lead as big as 18 points in the fourth period on the way to the eventual 10-point triumph.
It makes it eight straight wins now for Waverley ahead of a preliminary final match up on the road to the Mount Gambier Pioneers with their WNBL championship winning stars leading the charge.
Carley Ernst knocked down 5/13 from three-point range on the way to 32 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals with Bec Cole adding 28 points, six assists, three boards and two steals.
Mckenzie Forbes also had 15 points, four rebounds and two assists, Amelia Todhunter 10 points, three boards and two steals, and Renae Mokrzycki five points and seven rebounds.
It's a disappointing finish to such a promising season for Dandenong with WNBA draftee Nyadiew Puoch only being able to play just under 20 minutes a pivotal factor with her having 12 points, four rebounds and two assists up to that point.
Amber Smith did all she could with 29 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and two steals while Dallas Loughridge contributed 17 points, seven boards and six assists, and Manuela Puoch 10 points and five rebounds.
DANDENONG RANGERS 86 (Smith 29, Loughridge 17, N Puoch 12)
WAVERLEY FALCONS 96 (Ernst 32, Cole 28, Forbes 15)
MEN
Mount Gambier Pioneers (82) lost to Eltham Wildcats (91)
Being a top team hasn’t proven a wanted position this NBL1 South season with the Eltham Wildcats eliminating the Mount Gambier Pioneers in straight sets with Owen Foxwell brilliant in his team's 91-82 victory.
Mount Gambier finished the regular season two games clear in top spot with a 17-5 record but needed to use their double chance after losing last week at home to the Sandringham Sabres.
The Pioneers were back at Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre against an Eltham team who ended the regular season fifth at 14-8 before beating Geelong United in a tight affair to stay alive last Saturday.
Fascinatingly, despite being at home the Pioneers were only 6-6 there this season while undefeated on the road which gave the Wildcats heart who had won seven of their 11 road matches in 2024.
Eltham then put the pressure right back on the home team by opening up a 10-point lead in the first quarter and still leading 25-19 by the end of one.
The Wildcats were then still leading 44-37 by half-time but the Pioneers kept in touch by reducing the lead of Eltham to five at three quarter-time.
However, Eltham continued to have all the answers and never let the 1200 strong crowd to will their Pioneers team home with Owen Foxwell firing the Wildcats to the eventual nine-point victory.
Eltham has now advanced to a preliminary final up against the Frankston Blues with a Grand Final spot up for grabs in a contest with fascinating match ups galore.
South East Melbourne Phoenix NBL guard Owen Foxwell was superb for Eltham with 35 points, five assists and four rebounds with 4/7 three-point shooting and with 11/13 free-throw shooting.
His Phoenix teammate Angus Glover also knocked down 4/9 from downtown for 22 points to go with eight rebounds with Ralph Bissainthe adding 10 points and four boards, and Sam Short 10 points and four rebounds.
It's a frustrating way for a season that promised so much for Mount Gambier to finish especially to end up winning just six of 13 matches at home while being perfect on the road in 2024.
Nick Marshall did all he could for the Pioneers with 35 points, 11 rebounds and three assists on 13/24 shooting from the floor.
Akech Aliir finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots with Titus Robinson contributing 11 points and three boards, and Dylan Marshall seven points and three assists.
MOUNT GAMBIER PIONEERS 82 (N Marshall 35, Aliir 12, Robinson 11)
ELTHAM WILDCATS 91 (Foxwell 35, Glover 22, Bissainthe 10, Short 10)
Ballarat Miners (91) defeated Dandenong Rangers (78)
The Ballarat Miners bounced back from a qualifying final loss to advance to the preliminary final with a 91-78 home victory over the Dandenong Rangers.
The Miners finished the regular season in third position at 15-7 before suffering a first up finals loss on the road to the Frankston Blues last Saturday.
They needed to hit back from that 39-point defeat with their season on the line on Saturday back home at Selkirk Stadium as they played host to a Dandenong team who finished sixth and then beat the defending champion Knox Rangers last Saturday.
The two teams met just once during the season and that was a two-point thrilling win for Dandenong so the stage was set for a terrific contest and it was the Rangers leading by a point at quarter-time.
No more than four points then separated the two teams in the second quarter either and by half-time it was the Rangers clinging to the narrow 40-39 advantage.
It was in the third quarter where Ballarat was able to take control of the contest opening up a double-figure advantage which got out to as much as 19 points in the fourth period.
Ballarat completed the job for the 13-point victory to advance to a preliminary final match up with the Sandringham Sabres with the winner to advance to the Grand Final.
Zac Dunmore delivered a team-high 20 points to go with 10 rebounds and two assists in the win for the Miners with Tyler Rudolph shaking off a slow start for 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists with 3/5 shooting from downtown.
Nick Stoddart added 17 points, four assists and three rebounds, Majok Majok 16 points, 18 boards and two blocked shots, and Luke Rosendale 15 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
It's the end of an encouraging season for the Rangers with Jack Roberts putting up 20 points, four rebounds and two steals on the back of hitting 3/6 from behind the three-point line.
Tad Dufelmeier provided 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds, Jacob Tryon 12 points, eight boards and two assists, Puoch Puoch 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Mason Peatling 10 points and seven boards.
BALLARAT MINERS 91 (Dunmore 20, Rudolph 19, Stoddart 17)
DANDENONG RANGERS 78 (Roberts 20, Dufelmeier 20, Tryton 12, Puoch 12)
