East Recap | Round 14 Friday

Image credit: @danbennettphoto

Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders women dealt a blow to NBL1 East finals hopes of Inner West Bulls while Dalen Ridgnal, Maxwell Clark and Mirko Djeric led Bulls to the Friday night victory.

EAST RECAP | FIRST NATIONS ROUND SUNDAY

WOMEN

Inner West Bulls (77) lost to Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders (78)

The Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders snapped their losing streak and dealt a blow to the finals aspirations for the Inner West Bulls with the thrilling 78-77 Friday night victory.

The Bulls were back home at Sydney Uni Sports and Aquatics Centre clinging to a playoff position despite a last up loss to the Hills Hornets and still with the most matches to play of any other team.

Inner West also came into the contest without the services of Tahlia Tupaea as they took on a Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai team all but out of playoff contention and having lost their past five straight matches.

The Spiders raced out to an early nine-point lead before the Bulls hit back with eight straight points and by quarter-time it was Hornsby clinging to the 22-21 advantage.

It was a similar story in the second term with the Spiders getting out to a 10-point lead before Inner West responded with 10 consecutive points and by half-time it was still Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai leading by a solitary point.

Once more, the Spiders opened up a handy lead in the third quarter and it got to as much as 11 points but the Spiders continued to respond and had cut that deficit back to just four points at three quarter-time.

Inner West managed to grab the lead early in the fourth quarter firstly when Kristina Moore completed a three-point play to tie scores up, and then with Mizuki Wakamatsu knocking down a three ball to put them up three.

However, once Nicola Sainsbury scored for Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai with six minutes to go to return the visitors to the lead, they never again surrendered it and held on in the finish for the one-point victory.

The win improves the Spiders to a 7-11 record on the season with Ay'Anna Bey top-scoring with 19 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Nicole Hutchins added 17 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and two blocks, Daila Walker 14 points, there assists and two boards, Jessie-May Hall 13 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals, and Nicola Sainsbury 11 points, seven boards, four assists and two steals.

Inner West have now lost their past two matches to be 8-8 on the season and still with four games to play against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, Sutherland Sharks, Illawarra Hawks and Hills Hornets.

Kristina Moore continued to push her case as an MVP candidate with another 32 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and three assists for the Bulls with 4/9 shooting from three-point territory.

Mizuki Wakamatsu added 21 points, eight rebounds and three assists, Chieh Ou 13 points and eight boards, and Tylah Mundine seven points, nine rebounds and two assists.

INNER WEST BULLS 77 (Moore 32, Wakamatsu 12, Ou 13)

HORNSBY KU-RING-GAI SPIDERS 78 (Bey 19, Hutchins 17, Walker 14)

MEN

Inner West Bulls (84) defeated Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders (74)

Both teams were looking for some late season pride and it was the Inner West Bulls beating the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders 84-74 thanks to Dalen Ridgnal, Maxwell Clark and Mirko Djeric combining for 64 points.

Coming into the Friday night match up at Sydney Uni Sports and Aquatics Centre and the Bulls were looking for a sixth win of the season and the Spiders their seventh victory.

It was 15 points apiece in the first quarter before Inner West took control in the second quarter outscoring Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai 34 points to 16.

That saw the Bulls shoot 11/18 from the field for the second term with 8/10 at the foul line while the Spiders didn’t get to the stripe once and shot 7/22 from the floor.

Inner West went into half-time leading 49-31 on the back of that and then went on with the job in the second half with the lead growing to as much as 19 points before settling at 10 by the final buzzer.

The win is a second straight for the Bulls as they improve to a 6-11 record on the season with three matches to go against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, Sutherland Sharks and Illawarra Hawks.

Dalen Ridgnal top-scored in the win for the Bulls with 22 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots on 8/13 field goal shooting.

Maxwell Clark added 21 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals, Mirko Djeric 21 points, seven boards and two assists, and Kwabena Brefo 10 points and five rebounds.

Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai have now lost their past three matches to be 6-12 with just two games left against the Illawarra Hawks and Albury-Wodonga Bandits.

Akil Douglas finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and two steals for the Spiders with Daniel Titus contributing 17 points, three boards and two blocks, Mohamed Kone 17 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals, and Alexander Sidhu nine points, 11 boards and four assists.

INNER WEST BULLS 84 (Ridgnal 22, Clark 21, Djeric 21)

HORNSBY KU-RING-GAI SPIDERS 74 (Douglas 21, Titus 17, Kone 17)