East Recap | Round 14 Sunday

Image credit: Rob Sheeley/@robshots

Both Todd Blanchfield and Mohamed Kone scored 38 points on Sunday but it was a big win for Illawarra Hawks after their women also prevailed while it was an NBL1 East win for Hills Hornets women and the Canberra Gunners.

EAST RECAP | ROUND 14 SATURDAY

EAST RECAP | ROUND 14 FRIDAY

WOMEN

Hills Hornets (91) defeated Canberra Nationals (74)

The Canberra Nationals missed the chance to lock away their finals position with Ella Gale scoring 23 points as the Hills Hornets scored the 91-74 Sunday victory.

Coming into the match up at Hills Basketball Stadium and the Hornets were looking to bounce back from Saturday's loss to the Sydney Comets while Canberra did need a win to be out of danger of dropping out of a playoff position.

The Nationals also lost to start their road double to the Bankstown Bruins on Saturday and then it was the Hornets who started the better with 24 points to 18 in the first quarter while shooting 8/15 from the field and 6/8 from the foul line to 7/17 shooting from Canberra without a trip to the line.

It was another 24 points to 18 in the second term for Hills and the home team led 48-36 by the half-time break as a result and then completed a 12-0 run into the third frame to open up a 24-point lead.

From there the Hornets cruised to the 17-point victory to improve to a 6-12 record on the season ahead of finishing next week away to the Newcastle Falcons.

Ella Gale led the way in the win for Hills with 23 points, 13 rebounds and two assists on 9/12 field goal shooting, 3/4 three-point shooting and 2/3 free-throw shooting.

Elizabeth Smith also had 15 points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals, Kennedy Johnson 17 points, seven boards and two blocks, Jade Kirisome 13 points, six assists, three steals and two blocks, and Hannah Griffin 12 points, seven assists and two rebounds.

The Nationals to remain in seventh position despite the two losses this weekend to be 9-9 but will need a win next Saturday at home to the Maitland Mustangs to lock away a playoff spot.

Jasmyn Boutzos top-scored for Canberra with 19 points with Mikala Williams contributing 18 points on 4/9 three-point shooting, Callie Bourne 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Elise Finney 10 points, nine boards and two steals.

HILLS HORNETS 91 (Gale 23, Johnson 17, Smith 15, Kirisome 15)

CANBERRA NATIONALS 74 (Boutzos 19, Williams 18, Bourne 13)

Illawarra Hawks (94) defeated Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders (67)

The Illawarra Hawks made it consecutive wins for the first time this season by beating the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders 94-67 at home on Sunday afternoon.

Illawarra were back at The Snakepit fresh off a home win the previous evening also at home against the Sutherland Sharks as they hosted a Spiders team attempting to back up their own Friday night win against the Inner West Bulls.

It was a tight opening to the contest with the Hawks leading 20-18 by the end of the first quarter before Illawarra went on a 12-0 scoring run into the second frame to open up a 16-point advantage.

From there, the Hawks were leading 50-36 by half-time and then only continued to pull away further from there with the lead growing to 26 points in the third period, and 30 in the fourth on the way to the eventual 27-point victory.

Illawarra ended up shooting 45 per cent for the game to 28 per cent from Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai while the Hawks knocked down 14/30 from three-point range to 6/20, and still won big despite the 36 free-throw attempts for the Spiders to 16.

It's back-to-back wins for the first time this season for Illawarra as they improve to a 6-13 record ahead of finishing their season on Saturday on the road to the Inner West Bulls.

Sophia Johnston delivered 24 points on 5/9 three-point shooting in the win for the Hawks with Asha Phillips contributing 18 points, four assists, two rebounds and two steals, Kiara Bell 15 points, 15 boards and seven blocked shots, and Ruby MacDonald 11 points and two assists.

Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai are now 7-12 also with one game to finish when they play host to the Albury-Wodonga Bandits on Saturday.

Teenage superstar Jessie-May Hall finished with 30 points, six rebounds, six steals and five assists in the loss for the Spiders with Ay'Anna Bey adding 13 points and 11 boards, Nicole Hutchins 12 points, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks, and Nicola Sainsbury 10 points and four boards.

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 94 (Johnston 24, Phillips 18, Bell 15)

HORNSBY KU-RING-GAI SPIDERS 67 (Hall 30, Bey 13, Hutchins 12)

MEN

Hills Hornets (69) lost to Canberra Gunners (80)

The Canberra Gunners bounced back from a tough loss on Saturday to move back to second spot with a game to play with the 80-69 victory against the Hills Hornets.

The Gunners arrived at Hills Basketball Stadium having lost the night before to the red hot Bankstown Bruins meaning they had to bounce back on Sunday if they still wanted to finish top two.

The Hornets were out of playoff contention coming into the game but were coming off a win against the Sydney Comets meaning it was going to be no walk over for the Gunners.

The Hornets made an encouraging start as well to be leading 21-17 by quarter-time and then by half-time the game was all square at 37-37 with the Hornets having shot 13/29 from the field and Canberra 13/27 showing just how little there was between them.

Canberra did manage to open up a three-point lead by three quarter-time and then completed the job with 25 points to 17 in the last term to secure the important 11-point victory.

The Gunners got the win on the back of shooting 49 per cent from the field to 43 from the Hornets along with going 16/24 from the foul line to just 7/9.

The victory improves Canberra to a 14-5 record to be in second spot just behind the 14-4 Centre of Excellence and ahead of the also Illawarra Hawks with a game to finish in a grand final rematch this Saturday at home to the out of the running Maitland Mustangs.

Will Mayfield ended up with 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists with Cameron Pender providing 19 points, seven boards and two assists, Evan Wardlow 13 points and three assists, and Angus Byatt 10 points, six rebounds and two steals.

The Hornets are now 7-12 on the season with a game to finish away to the Newcastle Falcons with Liam Moss producing 21 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

Meekness Payne added 20 points, three rebounds and two blocks with 4/6 from downtown while Deng Gak added eight points, five rebounds and two assists, and Jacob Foy six points with a pair of three balls.

HILLS HORNETS 69 (Moss 21, Payne 20, Gak 8)

CANBERRA GUNNERS 80 (Mayfield 21, Pender 19, Wardlow 13)

Illawarra Hawks (129) defeated Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders (110)

Todd Blanchfield and Mohamed Kone had 38 points for their respective teams but the Illawarra Hawks had too many other weapons for the 129-110 win over the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders.

Even with a loss on Saturday to the Sutherland Sharks the Hawks still scored 112 points with their firepower impressive as they remained home at The Snakepit on Sunday to host the Spiders who arrived having lost their past three games.

The tone was set in the first quarter when the two teams combined for 63 points with the Hawks narrowly leading 32-31 on shooting 7/13 from three while the Spiders went 4/11.

Illawarra put up another 35 points to 22 in the second term to open up the 67-53 lead by half-time having shot 14/26 from three in just a half of basketball.

It was another 36 points to 27 in the third term from Illawarra with 6/12 three-point shooting and from there the Hawks scored the 19-point win having put up 241 points in their two games this weekend even though only one of them was a win.

The Hawks improve to a 14-5 record with the win and still a chance to finish top two if they beat the Inner West Bulls on the road in the final game of the regular season.

Todd Blanchfield has played 441 NBL games and continues to be at the top of his powers as evidenced by another 38 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals with 10/21 three-point shooting.

His NBL teammate Kobe McDowell-White added 27 points, 13 assists, six rebounds and two steals with Lachlan Dent adding 22 points, nine assists and three boards, Matthew Mims 22 points with 5/8 three-point shooting, and Brad Ballinger nine points, five rebounds and two assists.

Hornsby Ku-Ring-Rai are now 6-13 on the season with just one game to play at home to the Albury-Wodonga Bandits with Mohamed Kone producing 38 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and five steals with 15/25 field goal shooting, 5/12 from deep and 3/3 at the foul line.

Daniel Titus added 25 points, six rebounds and five assists, Akil Douglas 13 points, four boards, two assists and two steals, and Aaron Redhead eight points and three rebounds.

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 129 (Blanchfield 38, McDowell-White 27, Dent 22, Mims 22)

HORNSBY KU-RING-GAI SPIDERS 110 (Kone 38, Titus 25, Douglas 13)