East Recap | Preliminary Finals

Image credit: Greg Francis (@DiscoveryOne_Photography)

Zara Russell and Sitaya Fagan lifted the Centre of Excellence into the NBL1 East grand final against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles while Todd Blanchfield starred again to book the Illawarra Hawks in against the Canberra Gunners.

EAST RECAP | SEMI FINALS

EAST RECAP | FINALS WEEK 1

WOMEN

Norths Bears (63) lost to Centre of Excellence (74)

Zara Russell and Sitaya Fagan are two of Australian basketball's most exciting prospects and they have led the Centre of Excellence to the NBL1 East grand final with the 74-63 road win over the Norths Bears.

The Centre of Excellence didn’t have any momentum to speak of coming into the finals with a month's break from playing any games late in the season and with a large contingent of their group playing at the Under-19 FIBA World Cup.

The CoE have also undertaken a change in coach through the season with Dave Herbert stepping down and it was Phil Brown leading them into the finals after qualifying in fifth position at 12-8.

The Bears, meanwhile, finished the regular season in second spot at 17-3 and having won their past five matches before beating the defending champions Newcastle Falcons in a qualifying final.

That saw the 2023 champions earn the right for a week off ahead of hosting the preliminary final at North Sydney Indoor Sports Centre.

The CoE opened their finals campaign beating the Canberra Nationals and then the Albury-Wodonga Bandits to earn the chance to take on the Bears with a spot in the grand final at stake.

Even though the Centre of Excellence only shot 7/23 from the field in the first quarter, taking nine extra attempts than Norths was encouraging sign and there were leading 17-13 by quarter-time.

It was the Bears who had the better of the second quarter, though, and by half-time the CoE were just clinging to the 37-36 advantage.

It was still just a one-point lead in the favour of the Centre of Excellence by three quarter-time, but the rising stars from Basketball Australia dominated the last term outscoring the Bears 20 points to 10.

Neither team made a three-pointer in the last quarter but the difference was the Bears took 13 attempts and the CoE just two.

The Centre of Excellence also went 7/12 inside the arc and 6/9 at the free-throw line to 4/10 and 2/3, and that was enough for them to win their way into the grand final next Saturday at Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre.

Zara Russell delivered 18 points, six rebounds and three assists in the win for the Centre of Excellence even while shooting just 4/18 from the field but 9/9 at the free-throw line.

Sitaya Fagan also had 16 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots with Isabel Smith adding 16 points, six boards and three assists, and Olivia Olechnowicz 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

It's a tough finals exit for the Bears only the back of also losing a preliminary final last year to the Sutherland Sharks after going 18-2 during the regular season.

Maddie O'Hehir ended up top-scoring for Norths with 23 points and eight rebounds with Isabelle Morgan contributing 16 points, Carla Pitman eight points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, and Peggy Schell four points and seven boards.

NORTHS BEARS 63 (O'Hehir 23, Morgan 16, Pitman 8)

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 74 (Russell 18, Fagan 16, Smith 16)

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (89) defeated Newcastle Falcons (67)

The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles have been banging on the door for some time and been the standout team all season to now book a place in the grand final with the 89-67 win over the defending champion Newcastle Falcons.

The Sea Eagles had a standout 2023 season before losing the grand final to the Norths Bears and then also lost a preliminary final to Newcastle last year so they were out for a revenge on Saturday at North Sydney Indoor Sports Centre.

Manly Warringah finished the regular season in top spot at 18-2 having won 16 straight before beating the Albury-Wodonga Bandits in the qualifying final to earn the right to host the preliminary final.

The Falcons' championship defence saw them finish in third place at 17-3 before losing a qualifying final to the Bears and then beating the Bankstown Bruins in a semi-final last Saturday.

The Sea Eagles got off to a strong start to open up a 12-point lead during the first quarter and to be on top 22-16 by quarter-time.

It was still a 40-34 lead by half-time in favour of Manly Warringah before they blew the game open further in the third frame with 29 points to 18 including going on a 10-0 scoring run to open up a 17-point lead.

That lead then continued to grow and got to 27 points in the last quarter as the Sea Eagles secured the win by 22 points and to book in a place in a second NBL1 East grand final in the past three years.

Manly Warringah ended up shooting 46 per cent from the floor to 33 from Newcastle while going 17/22 from the foul line to 13/16.

Kim Dickinson delivered 21 points, nine rebounds and two assists in the win for Manly Warringah with 8/12 shooting while Taylor Wurtz contributed 21 points, seven boards and three assists with 6/13 three-point shooting.

Zoey Miller also had 14 points, three rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks, Josie Bulman 13 points, seven boards, three assists and two steals, Alex Delaney eight points, four rebounds and three assists, and Antonia Henderson six points and nine boards.

It's the end of the championship defence for Newcastle with MVP Nicole Munger finishing with another 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Meg Jefferson also had 17 points, two rebounds and two steals, Kate Kingham 12 points, two boards, two assists and two steals, and Sophie Brennan 11 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

MANLY WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 89 (Dickinson 21, Wurtz 21, Miller 14)

NEWCASTLE FALCONS 67 (Munger 17, Jefferson 17, Kingham 12)

MEN

Illawarra Hawks (98) defeated Centre of Excellence (89)

Todd Blanchfield might be right at the peak of his powers even at 33 years of age with the NBL1 East MVP lifting the Illawarra Hawks into the grand final with the 98-89 win over the Centre of Excellence.

It has been quite the remarkable 12 months for Blanchfield who was grand final MVP for his hometown Mackay Meteors in the NBL1 North last year before then playing a key role at the Hawks to celebrate the first NBL championship of his 441-game career.

Blanchfield has stayed in the 'Gong for this NBL1 East season and was outstanding the entire way helping Illawarra to the regular season crown with a 15-5 record with him going on to be named MVP.

The Hawks then beat the Sydney Comets by 40 points in the qualifying final to earn the right to stay home to host a preliminary final at The Snakepit.

The Centre of Excellence still finished the regular season in third place even after losing three of their last five games before losing the qualifying final to the Canberra Gunners and bouncing back last week to beat the Norths Bears in the semi finals.

The Hawks weren’t shy in getting up three-point attempts in the first quarter and ended up going 5/17 after just the first 10 minutes with the Centre of Excellence also shooting more from deep than inside the arc going 2/10.

On the back of that, Illawarra were leading 23-15 by quarter-time and then built that lead out to 16 points with eight straight points in the second frame, but the Centre of Excellence responded.

As a result, the Hawks were only leading 44-37 by half-time before then pulling away further 30 points to 22 in the third quarter with that lead growing to a match-winning 23 points.

The Centre of Excellence did finish strongly with 30 points in the final term while shooting 12/19 from the field but they could neve get back closer than eight points with the Hawks scoring the eight-point win.

The Hawks now advance to the grand final next Saturday at Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre with Todd Blanchfield outstanding once more with 27 points, 15 rebounds and four assists even with 8/22 field goal shooting and going 4/14 from three-point territory.

Kobe McDowell-White only narrowly missed a triple-double with 19 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds while Matthew Mims contributed 19 points and three steals with 5/11 from three-point range.

Kyle Leslie also had 19 points and five rebounds with 5/10 shooting from deep with Lachlan Dent providing 14 points, seven boards, three assists and two steals.

The season is over for the Centre of Excellence with Nash Walker providing another 19 points, four rebounds and two assists.

Che Brogan added 18 points and three steals on 4/6 three-point shooting with Ajak Nyuon providing 12 points, seen rebounds and three assists, Jai Faale 13 points and five boards, and Mading Kuany 11 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals.

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 98 (Blanchfield 27, McDowell-White 19, Mims 19, Leslie 19)

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 89 (Walker 19, Brogan 18, Faale 13)

Canberra Gunners (84) defeated Sutherland Sharks (76)

The Canberra Gunners have advanced to a third grand final in the past four years in the NBL1 East by beating the Sutherland Sharks 84-76 and having come back from a double-figure deficit to do so.

The Gunners came into the 2025 season following a heartbreaking loss in the grand final last year to the Maitland Mustangs on the back of a preliminary final loss in 2023 to that same team on the back of winning the championship in 2022.

Canberra then finished the regular season in second place with a 15-5 record before beating the Centre of Excellence in the qualifying final to earn the right to host the preliminary final after a week off.

Sutherland, meanwhile, finished the regular season in eighth place at 11-9 before beating the Bankstown Bruins in a star-studded elimination final before backing it up last week beating the Sydney Comets.

That set up the preliminary final with the Gunners having not lost at home all season and hosting the Sharks in Tuggeranong, and it was Canberra getting off to the flying start with 25 points to 11 in the first quarter.

The Gunners shot 10/21 from the field opposed to the 5/18 from the Sharks but Sutherland hit back in the second frame with 31 points to 19 while shooting 14/19 to 7/17 and cutting Canberra's advantage to 44-42 by the half.

Sutherland kept that momentum going with another 27 points to 16 in the third quarter to open up an 11-point lead, and to still be on top 69-60 by three quarter-time.

Canberra had plenty of work to do to avoid losing at home for the first time all year with a grand final spot at stake, and the Gunners did respond with 24 points to 17 in the final quarter to turn that nine-point deficit into the eight-point victory.

The Gunners ended up shooting 5/9 from deep in that final term to the 0/7 from the Sharks to now have locked in their place in a third grand final in the past four NBL1 East seasons.

Will Mayfield delivered 19 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals in the win for Canberra with Glenn Morison adding 17 points, nine boards, three assists and three blocked shots.

James Toohey also had 17 points, three rebounds, three assists and two blocks, and Derek Emelifeonwu nine points, three boards and two steals.

It was a case of what might have been for Sutherland after being up 11 late in the third quarter with Luke Jamieson providing 19 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots.

Championship captain from 2023, Lochlan Hutchison, also had 17 points, six assists, six steals and four rebounds, and Jason Spurgin 11 points, six rebounds and four blocks while Kouat Noi had 12 points, eight boards and three assists while shooting just 5/18 from the field.

CANBERRA GUNNERS 84 (Mayfield 19, Morison 17, Toohey 17)

SUTHERLAND SHARKS 76 (Jamieson 19, Hutchison 17, Noi 12)