East Recap | Anzac Round Saturday

Image credit: Rob Sheeley/@robshots

MVP Nicole Munger delivered another stunningly dominant performance to keep the Newcastle Falcons unbeaten this NBL1 East season while Todd Blanchfield helped the Illawarra Hawks to the overtime win on Saturday night.

EAST RECAP | ANZAC ROUND FRIDAY

WOMEN

Centre of Excellence (82) defeated Penrith Panthers (68)

The Centre of Excellence made it a double win weekend on their return to NBL1 East action beating the Penrith Panthers 82-68 on Saturday with Sitaya Fagan once again a standout performer.

Having not played a game in almost a month, the Centre of Excellence were back in action on Anzac Day beating the Canberra Nationals ahead of hosting the Panthers on Saturday at the Australian Institute of Sport.

The Panthers were playing their first game in two weeks as well having lost last up to the Inner West Bulls before the Easter break and they were able to take a 19-16 lead into quarter-time away from home.

The Centre of Excellence worked on top in the second quarter including scoring 13 consecutive points to end up leading by as much as 11, and being up 40-32 by half-time.

It was more of the same in the third quarter with the lead for the CoE continuing to grow and getting out to 17 points. It was then 20 in the fourth before the Basketball Australia emerging stars went on to win by 14 and improve to 3-1 on the season as a result.

Sitaya Fagan put in a huge performance in the Anzac Day win over Canberra and backed that up on Saturday with another 29 points, nine rebounds and three steals on 11/21 shooting from the floor, 3/6 from downtown and 4/4 at the free-throw line.

Zara Russell added 15 points, four assists and three steals, Sophie Taylor 11 points, six assists, four steals and three rebounds, Isabel Smith nine points, four assists, four steals and three boards, and Jade Crook seven points, 16 rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots.

Penrith are now 2-3 having lost their last couple despite Mia Heide putting up 18 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists on 7/14 shooting.

Jordan Vasquez added 18 points, eight rebounds and two assists, Serika Shillingsworth 10 points and two assists, and Sofia Hunt eight points and seven rebounds.

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 82 (Fagan 29, Russell 15, Taylor 11)

PENRITH PANTHERS 68 (Vasquez 18, Heide 18, Shillingsworth 10)

Illawarra Hawks (59) lost to Newcastle Falcons (99)

MVP Nicole Munger delivered another monster performance with 38 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists to keep the defending champion Newcastle Falcons unbeaten with the 99-59 win over the Illawarra Hawks.

It has been an ominous start to the title defence of the Falcons this season with the four straight wins to open up ahead of taking on the Hawks on Saturday night at The Snakepit.

Illawarra was attempting to also back up their first win of the season the night before away to the Sutherland Sharks, but taking on the reigning champions was a whole other story.

Newcastle didn’t take long to take control of the contest with 25 points to 11 in the opening quarter before another 22 to 10 in the second period saw their lead get out to 27 points and for them to be on top 47-21 by the half-time break.

That lead for the Falcons continued to grow through the second half getting to 32 points in the third period and 42 in the fourth before they won by 40 to improve to 5-0 on the season and to be on a 13-game winning streak dating back to last year.

She's already a two-time MVP and Nicole Munger has never been more dominant after delivering a performance made up of 38 points, 15 rebounds, nine assists and two blocked shots with 12/21 shooting from the field, 6/9 from three-point range and 8/9 at the free-throw line.

Meg Jefferson also produced 25 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and two assists, Hannah Chicken 11 points, seven boards, three assists, two steals and two blocks, and Sophie Brennan 10 points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists.

The Hawks are now 1-4 to start the season with Kiara Bell putting up 17 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

Asha Phillips added 13 points, five boards, three steals and two assists, and Imogen Thompson 10 points and three assists.

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 59 (Bell 17, Phillips 13, Thompson 10)

NEWCASTLE FALCONS 99 (Munger 38, Jefferson 25, Chicken 11)

Albury-Wodonga Bandits (94) defeated Hills Hornets (78)

It was the turn of Caitie Jones to produce a match-winning performance in the 94-78 win at home for the Albury-Wodonga Bandits against the Hills Hornets.

The Bandits have started the new season impressively winning three of their first four games heading into hosting the Hornets on Saturday at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre.

That has been with Jones, Brynn Masikewich and Riley Lupfer delivering match-winning displays at different times ahead of playing a Hills team who arrived on the border looking to snap a two-game losing slide.

Albury-Wodonga opened up a 10-point lead already in the first quarter before leading 26-21 by quarter-time and then pushing that advantage out to 11 in the second frame.

The home team was still leading 49-42 at the half before continuing to build on that advantage to lead by 14 points in the third quarter and 19 in the fourth before securing the 16-point victory.

The Bandits now sit on a 4-1 record following the victory with Caitie Jones knocking down 9/17 from the field and 4/9 from three-point territory on her way to 23 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals.

Brynn Masikewich added 21 points and nine rebounds, Riley Lupfer 20 points, six boards, three steals and two assists, and Emma Mahady 15 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.

The Hornets have now lost their past three games to be sitting at 1-3 this season with Jade Kirisome producing 26 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals on 4/9 three-point shooting.

Hannah Griffin added 23 points with 5/8 shooting from downtown while Elizabeth Smith ended up with 13 points, five rebounds and two steals, and Ella Gale nine points, nine boards and two steals.

ALBURY-WODONGA BANDITS 94 (Jones 23, Masikewich 21, Lupfer 20)

HILLS HORNETS 78 (Kirisome 26, Griffin 23, Smith 13)

Inner West Bulls (62) lost to Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (89)

Despite the best efforts of Tahlia Tupaea for the Inner West Bulls, the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles proved too deep and too strong for the 89-62 road victory.

The Bulls were back home at Sydney Uni Sports and Aquatics Centre and had won their last couple of matches including against the Bankstown Bruins on Anzac Day having previously lost 17 matches dating back to April last year prior to that.

Manly Warringah came into the contest playing their first game since losing on the road to the Albury-Wodonga Bandits two weeks earlier before the Easter break.

It proved to be a tight contest in the first quarter with the Sea Eagles leading 23-22 by quarter-time before the visitors did take over the rest of the first half with 23 points to 14 in the second term.

That saw them leading 46-36 by half-time and then dominating further in the third stanza with 27 points to seven to end up leading by as much as 32 points on the way to the eventual 27-point victory.

Manly Warringah improve to a 3-2 record with the victory with Taylor Wurtz finishing with 22 points, six rebounds and two assists with shooting 4/10 from beyond the three-point arc.

Sari Mowbray also provided 19 points and five rebounds, Zoey Miller 11 points, three boards and two assists, and Antonia Henderson flirted with a triple-double with nine points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.

Inner West couldn’t quite make it three straight wins to now be 2-2 on the season and Tahlia Tupaea put in an almost lone hand to try and keep the Bulls in the contest ending up with 33 points, six rebounds and two steals while shooting 5/6 from downtown and 8/8 at the foul line.

Mizuki Wakamatsu added eight points, five rebounds and two steals, and Kristina Moore eight points and six rebounds.

INNER WEST BULLS 62 (Tupaea 33, Moore 8, Wakamatsu 8)

MANLY WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 89 (Wurtz 22, Mowbray 19, Miller 11)

MEN

Centre of Excellence (96) defeated Penrith Panthers (55)

The Centre of Excellence hit back from a narrow loss on Anzac Day to score a commanding 96-55 home win on Saturday against the Penrith Panthers.

Playing their first game in the NBL1 East since March 30, the Centre of Excellence lost their first game of the season on Anzac Day in a thriller to the Canberra Gunners.

They backed up hosting the Panthers on Saturday at the Australian Institute of Sport with Penrith in action for the first time in two weeks as well and trying to improve on their 2-2 start to 2025.

It was a stunning start from the CoE as they went on to score 14 straight points and to open up a 21-point lead before outscoring the Panthers 31 points to 12.

It was another 25 points to 14 in the second period and the lead for the Centre of Excellence grew to as much as 30 points, and by half-time the home team was on top 56-26.

The lead continued to continued to grow throughout the second half as well and was out to 37 points in the third term, and 43 in the fourth before the CoE scored the 41-point win to improve to a 3-1 record on the season.

Once more it was a good even spread of minutes and contributions for the Centre of Excellence with all 12 players playing at least six minutes, and 11 of them scoring and all 12 of them making a significant contribution.

Nash Walker top-scored with 20 points and two steals on 5/10 three-point shooting with Jacob Furphy contributing 19 points, seven boards and five assists, and Alex Dickeson 14 points, six steals, five assists and three rebounds.

Marcus Vaughns also had 12 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists, and Roor Akhuar nine points and six boards.

The Panthers are now 2-3 following consecutive defeats with Ben Kearins top-scoring with 12 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals but no other Penrith player managed to reach double digits.

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 96 (Walker 20, Furphy 19, Dickeson 14)

PENRITH PANTHERS 55 (Kearins 12, Charlton 8, Pares 7, Evans 7, Amajoyi 7)

Illawarra Hawks (88) defeated Newcastle Falcons (77)

Todd Blanchfield produced another strong performance and got plenty of help as the Illawarra Hawks returned to the winner's list with the 88-77 overtime victory over the Newcastle Falcons.

The Hawks started the season with a pair of wins building on the momentum of Illawarra's NBL championship triumph, but had lost the last couple heading into Saturday's home clash with the Falcons at The Snakepit.

Newcastle was also trying to make it back-to-back wins after beating the Hawks in their first encounter two weeks ago prior to the Easter break.

The rematch from that 84-68 win in Newcastle for the Falcons started with an enterprising first quarter with the two teams combining to score 49 points, and the visitors leading 25-24 at the end of it.

They couldn’t quite keep that offensive pace going but Newcastle stayed on top to end up leading 42-37 by the half-time break.

The Falcons were still clinging to a three-point lead by three quarter-time before the Hawks scored the first nine points of the last quarter including a three-pointer to Todd Blanchfield to grab the lead.

The big shots continued and after a couple of threes for Illawarra from Matthew Mims and Brad Ballinger, Newcastle drew back level when Ryan Beisty responded in kind.

Beisty was able to score again to put the Falcons up three with just over a minute to play but Kobe McDowell-White hit the last shot of regulation with a triple to tie scores up and after a string of missed shots following that, the game went to overtime.

It was in the extra five minutes where the Hawks took total control by putting up 19 points to just the eight from the Falcons to secure the win and improve to 3-2 on the season as a result.

NBL veteran Todd Blanchfield had a big night with 23 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and two steals with 5/14 shooting from three-point territory.

Christian Maran added 19 points on 9/17 shooting with Kobe McDowell-White delivering 19 points, nine assists and five rebounds, Matthew Mims 10 points, eight boards and four steals, and Brad Ballinger nine points, six rebounds and four assists.

The Falcons are now 1-4 on the season following the loss with Ryan Beisty ending up with 19 points, 14 rebounds and four assists.

Eylijah Stephens added 16 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals, Kobe Shannon 15 points and nine rebounds, and Alex Clinton 13 points on 4/8 three-point shooting.

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 88 (Blanchfield 23, Maran 19, McDowell-White 19)

NEWCASTLE FALCONS 77 (Beisty 19, Stephens 16, Shannon 15)

Albury-Wodonga Bandits (66) lost to Hills Hornets (83)

The Hills Hornets opened their account for the 2025 season with Jacob Foy knocking down six three-pointers on the way to the eventual 83-66 road victory over the Albury-Wodonga Bandits.

The Bandits were back home at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre looking for a second win of the season while the Hornets arrived looking to break their duck.

The Hornets had already opened up a 23-19 lead by the end of the first quarter before that lead got out to as much as 11 points in the second stanza.

Hills were still on top 44-38 going into the half-time interval with the Hornets remaining on top throughout the second half to lead by as much as 13 points in the third period and 19 in the fourth having gone on a 12-0 scoring streak.

The Hornets ended up confirming the 17-point win in the finish to improve to 1-3 on the season as a result with Jacob Foy knocking down 6/12 of his three-point attempts for 18 points and three rebounds.

Zach Hudson top-scored with 20 points, six rebounds, three steals and two blocks with Mitchell Smith contributing 15 points and five rebounds, and Liam Moss nine points, two boards, two assists and two steals.

The Bandits are now 1-4 this season following the defeat with Matthew Gray top-scoring with 18 points and 10 rebounds with Ahren Freeman providing 12 points and 14 boards, and Simon Lafaele nine points, three assists and two rebounds.

ALBURY-WODONGA BANDITS 66 (Gray 18, Freeman 12, Lafaele 9)

HILLS HORNETS 83 (Hudson 20, Foy 18, Smith 15)

Inner West Bulls (90) defeated Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (81)

The Inner West Bulls made it two wins in the space of 24 hours with Mirko Djeric in the line-up with the 90-81 home victory against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.

Inner West beat the Bankstown Bruins away from home on Anzac Day to open their double-header weekend ahead of hosting the Sea Eagles at Sydney Uni Sports and Aquatics Centre.

Manly Warringah arrived playing their first game since beating the Albury-Wodonga Bandits two weeks ago but it was the Bulls who had already managed to lead 23-17 by the end of the first quarter on their home floor.

That lead for Inner West got out to as much as 13 points in the second quarter as well with them ending up still on top 39-33 by the half-time break.

The Sea Eagles did keep things interesting through the second half and were even able to briefly tie scores up, but they could never quite grab the lead and the Bulls did enough to secure the nine-point win.

The victory is a third straight for Inner West who now sit on a 3-1 record with Ramon Cao delivering 26 points on the back of shooting 9/13 from the field and 4/6 from behind the three-point arc.

Dalen Ridgnal also contributed 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls, Mirko Djeric 14 points, nine assists, six boards and three steals, Tony Tolovae 12 points and five rebounds, Maxwell Clark 11 points and six assists, and Nicko Timonera 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.

The Sea Eagles now sit at 2-3 on the season following the loss with Preston Purifoy putting up 25 points, six rebounds and three assists with Stefan Valkovic adding 23 points, six boards and three assists, Matthew Eldridge 10 points and six rebounds, and Mason Bragg nine points, nine assists and seven boards.

INNER WEST BULLS 90 (Cao 26, Ridgnal 15, Djeric 14)

MANLY WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 81 (Purifoy 25, Valkovic 23, Eldridge 10)