NBL1 East Recap | Friday Round 17

The Hills Hornets women earned some revenge on the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders in Friday night's NBL1 East with the Bankstown Bruins going eighth while there were important wins for the Hornets and Inner West Bulls men.

The results of the two women's matches on Friday night in the NBL1 East saw the Hills Hornets defeat the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders 72-56 and the Bankstown Bruins defeat the Inner West Bulls 78-68.

The men's results then saw the Hornets beat the Spiders 73-61 and the Bulls defeat the Bruins 102-90.

WOMEN

Hornets earn revenge on Spiders

The bottom two teams in the NBL1 East locked horns to open Round 17 on Friday night and it was the Hills Hornets who scored their fourth win of the season with the 72-56 victory against the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders.

Hornsby did score their lone win of the NBL1 East season against the Hornets back on May 27 so were looking to repeat the dose on Friday night in what was their second last game of the season.

However, it was the Hornets who got off to the better start to lead by nine points already by quarter-time and then extending that advantage to 17 during the second period.

That lead grew to as much as 19 points in the second half before Hills went on to claim the 16-point victory to improve to a 4-16 record on the season. The Spiders are 1-20 with just one game to go on Sunday against the Sydney Comets.

Kelsey Curtin top-scored for the Hornets with 17 points, four rebounds and four assists while Cassandra Pentney added 15 points and 10 boards, Rhiannon Yetsenga 11 points and nine rebounds, and Taylah Cottees 11 points, nine boards, three steals, two blocks and two assists.

Tylah Mundine ended up leading the way for Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai with 19 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals, Mizuki Wakamatsu 16 points, six boards, five assists and two steals, and Madeline Della nine points and four rebounds.

Sabrina Della Franca has got range ?

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Bruins move into eighth spot with win over Bulls 

The Bankstown Bruins strengthened their playoffs push in the NBL1 East beating the Inner West Bulls 78-68 on the road on Friday night to move into eighth position.

The Bruins started well to lead by 10 points in the first quarter and to still be on top 19-13 by the end of the first quarter, and still went into the half-time break leading 38-31.

However, Inner West fired back in the second half including outscoring Bankstown 21 points to 14 in the third term. The Bulls even hit the front for all of 12 seconds in the fourth quarter.

Tough shot from Mikaela Dombkins ?

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The Bruins simply had too much to play for and would go on a 7-0 scoring run and move back out to a 13-point lead before winning by 10.

The victory improves Bankstown to a 10-10 record on the season in eighth position with two games remaining while the Bulls slip to 5-15.

Britney Wright ended up with 22 points, 11 rebounds and five steals for Bankstown while Violet Morrow contributed another 17 points, 12 boards and four assists, Briana Maimone 12 points and seven assists, and Shalome Dunlop 12 points, two rebounds and two assists.

Mikaela Dombkins and Leilani Mitchell once again did all they could to lift the Bulls. Dombkins ended up with 22 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists, and Mitchell 23 points, 11 boards and six assists.

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Britney Wright led Bankstown to a massively important win with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 5?? steals ?

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MEN

Hornets beat Hornsby to close in on top four

The Hills Hornets enhanced their prospects of breaking into the top four over the last two weeks of the regular season by beating the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders 73-61 on Friday night.

Hornsby were back home at Barker College to play host to the Hornets on Friday night and it was a close contest through the first half with Hills only leading by a point at quarter-time and by three at the main break.

However, the Hornets had too much riding on the result and took control against the bottom placed team to open up a 12-point lead throughout the second half and to secure the eventual win by that margin. 

Hills improve to a 13-6 record on the season with the victory to continue to close in on a top four finish while the Spiders are now 1-20 with one game to go against the Sydney Comets on Sunday.

Lachlan Charlton ended up with 19 points, three steals and two rebounds for the Hornets on the back of hitting 4/11 from behind the three-point line.

Campbell Green added 16 points, three boards, two steals and two blocks, Liam Moss 14 points and three rebounds, and Josh Kalwy 10 points and nine boards.

Kwabena Brefo delivered 11 points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists for Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai along with Ben White ending up with 10 points and three boards, Daniel Garrett 10 points, Peitok Machar eight points and nine rebounds, and Moses Bartley eight points, five boards, five assists and two steals.

Bulls further consolidate second spot

The Inner West Bulls further consolidated second position in the NBL1 East standings following a 102-90 home victory against the Bankstown Bruins on Friday night.

The Bulls started their run of three straight home games to close the regular season by hosting the Bruins at Concord Recreation Centre on Friday to open the second last round of the regular season.

Inner West wasted no time opening up a 10-point advantage in the first quarter to end up leading by eight at quarter-time.

The Bulls remained in control the rest of the way as well to end up leading by 14 points during the second stanza, 19 in the third and 20 in the fourth to end up winning by 12.

The victory improves Inner West to a 16-4 record to remain in second position with two home matches remaining against the Norths Bears and Penrith Panthers. The Bruins slip to a 4-16 record.

Chris Bryant finished the evening with 23 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals for Inner West on the back of shooting 10/17 from the field.

Alex Higgins-Titsha added 19 points, nine rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks for the Bulls with Blake Morrow contributing 15 points, nine boards and four assists, Tony Tolovae 20 points and seven rebounds, and Nicko Timonera 10 points, four boards and three assists.

Hayden Blankley finished with 30 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for Bankstown on the back of knocking down 6/13 from behind the three-point arc.

Kobe Shannon added 18 points and three assists, Jack McWilliams 14 points and six rebounds, and Miguel Campos 10 points, three boards and two assists.

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