NBL1 EAST Round 1 RECAP: Saturday

With the NBL1 making its return tonight there was excitement in the air and fantastic basketball plays to start the season on FIRE.

Here are the results at the end of Round 1 below: 

Chris Bryant has a poster dunk 

In a hellacious dunk, Inner West Bulls' new import Chris Bryant unleashed a Top 10 Plays of the season contending dunk over the Hills Hornets. 

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Finishing the game with 20 points, seven rebounds and three steals, the 6'6 forward has made a name for himself in the NBL1 on the opening day of action in their win over the Hornets. 

Two brand new teams face off

The marquee women's game of the night saw the brand-new Sydney Comets host the Penrith Panthers in a show of WNBL talent. 

Moving from Sutherland to the Comets, NBLL1 East All-Star Five member Vanessa Panousis scored a Round 1 high of 33 points as well as six assists and five rebounds -- grabbing the Comets their first women's win in NBL1 East history. 

The Toohey brother's dominant Round 1 

The reigning NBL1 East Defensive Player of the Year James Toohey and Gonzaga Bulldogs commit Alex Toohey both balled out in Round 1. 

The older brother, James, dropped 32 points in their win over the Albury-Wodonga Bandits -- setting the tone early for the defending champions on the road. 

While younger brother Alex also gave his Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence a reason to be confident this season with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

.@GonzagaBulldogs commit Alex Toohey had a game ?

1??2?? points & ? rebounds in his first game of #NBL1 2023 ?

Watch via https://t.co/NEk1I7kIKG or the NBL1 App ?&? pic.twitter.com/0mAnjtEvIE

— NBL1 (@NBL1) March 11, 2023

The pair will face off for the first time in Round 7: Saturday, April 29 streaming live on NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App here. 

Sara Matthews puts on a show at home

With the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders making their debut on the road, Central Coast Crusaders star Sara Matthews decided to give them a warm welcome to the NBL1 by dropping a near triple-double of 26, eight assists, eight rebounds and three steals in the 99-45 win. 

The Crusaders will want to improve after last season's record and this massive win should be the right kind of momentum for Central Coast going into Round 2.