The Frankston Blues pulled off a stunning fightback on the opening night of the NBL1 National Finals while the Gold Coast Rollers held out the Hobart Chargers and the Rockingham Flames flexed their muscles.
The first ever NBL1 National Finals got underway on Friday night at the State Basketball Centre in Melbourne with the six competing teams being the champions from the NBL1 South, East, North, West and Central along with the Frankston Blues who had the biggest win over the Centre of Excellence.
All six teams were action across the three courts on Friday and while the Rockingham Flames proved too strong for Scott Ninnis and his South Adelaide Panthers, there were almost two huge fightbacks in the other two games.
In the end, the Gold Coast Rollers held out the Hobart Chargers while the Frankston Blues succeeded in their fightback in a heated and exciting finish against the Canberra Gunners.
The NBL1 West champion Rockingham Flames might have lost Devondrick Walker to the Brisbane Bullets but it didn’t stop them proving too strong for the South Adelaide Panthers, ending up 87-71 winners.
Inspirational captain Ryan Godfrey delivered 26 points with four three-pointers in the win for Rockingham just six days after winning their first ever NBL1 West title.
Jeremy Smith ended up with 21 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for South Adelaide.
The Gold Coast Rollers might have not had their Brisbane Bullets NBL trio of Jason Cadee, Tanner Krebs and DJ Mitchell, but they opened up a 27-point lead over the Hobart Chargers who were also without Harry Froling and Sam McDaniel.
Gold Coast still managed to prevail 92-86 on the back of 19 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists from former All-NBL First Team member Lamar Patterson.
Ole Angerstein had a powerful performance for the Chargers with 19 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks.
NBL1 East champions the Canberra Gunners were on fire in the first half to open up an 18-point lead on the Frankston Blues, but playing in their home city, Frankston never gave up on and pulled off a stunning fightback.
Despite some massive finishes that saw tempers flare late for Canberra from Dhal Fieg, Frankston finished the better to win 89-86.
As he desperately tries to earn a full NBL contract, Lachie Barker did his chances the world of good with 38 points just 24 hours after playing for Melbourne United in Ballarat.
Grand Final MVP Glenn Morison put up another 22 points and six rebounds for Canberra.
NBL1 – 2022 NATIONAL FINALS
DAY 1 – FRIDAY NIGHT
FRANKSTON BLUES 89 defeated CANBERRA GUNNERS 86
The Frankston Blues are the only non-championship winning team involved at the National Finals, but they delivered quite the remarkable comeback in a dramatic clash with the Canberra Gunners on Friday night.
Frankston booked their place in the National Finals courtesy of their big win in the Wildcard match up against the Centre of Excellence and they not only became the only team not to win a title to be in Melbourne, but also the only team who didn’t have to fly to be part of the weekend at the State Basketball Centre.
Frankston was also able to keep the majority of their squad that made the playoffs in the NBL1 South together for the National Finals including Lachie Barker who is also playing with Melbourne United at the moment during their pre-season hit outs.
Meanwhile, Canberra booked in their spot at the National Finals on the back of winning the NBL1 East championship in what was a tremendous Grand Final battle two weeks ago in Sydney against the Maitland Mustangs.
The Gunners have also been able to come to Melbourne with their full squad pretty much available so that set the stage for a fascinating first up match up on Friday night.
Canberra might have come into the National Finals somewhat as the unknown commodity, but they came out firing with at terrific start the game including leading 22-13 already by quarter-time.
The Gunners then blew the game wide open even further in the second quarter to open up an 18-point lead before still being in control going into half-time leading 45-32.
Canberra went back up 15 early in the third quarter but Frankston were playing with the home town advantage and started to work their back into the contest to close the gap to nine points by three quarter-time.
That set the stage for a terrific finish with two quick triples for the Blues from Alister Macdonald and Lachie Barker to close the gap to three. Dillon Stith then produced an offensive rebound and putback to make it a one-point game.
Shaun Mills steadied the ship for Canberra with a three ball but Frankston had the momentum and then grabbed the lead when Macdonald knocked down another triple with just under three minutes gone in the fourth period.
Canberra weren’t about to give it up, though, and consecutive three-pointers to Will Mayfield had them back on top narrowly before Barker hit another from deep from Frankston and then the drama really started.
Dhal Fieg delivered a stunning reverse alley-oop finish on the pass from Akech Aliir but immediately Barker knocked down yet another three-pointer in response.
Fieg was fired up, though, and then drove down the lane threw down a monster slam right in the face of Barker who went sprawling. He turned that into a three-point play to put Canberra back up four, but was called for a tech foul for his fired up celebration.
Frankston then responded with the last six points of the game on the back of baskets from Macdonald, Stith and Daniel Trist to snatch the 89-86 on the back of that remarkably spectacular finish from Fieg.
Canberra still had a chance to send the game into overtime but Mayfield missed a good look on the buzzer in what was quite the dramatic finish to a terrific contest.
Lachie Barker played for Melbourne United against the Brisbane Bullets the previous night, and lined up for Frankston and delivered a spectacular performance with 38 points, three rebounds and three assists on 8/14 three-point shooting.
Daniel Trist added 16 points and five rebounds for the Blues, Dillon Stith 12 points and six boards, Adrio Bailey 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Alister Macdonald 11 points and three assists.
Glenn Morison was Grand Final MVP for Canberra and kept that form going with another 22 points, six rebounds and two steals while Dhal Fieg finished with 18 points, five boards, three assists and two steals.
Will Mayfield added 16 points and seven rebounds, Akech Aliir 11 points, eight boards and four assists, and Shaun Mills eight points and three rebounds.
GOLD COAST ROLLERS 92 defeated HOBART CHARGERS 86
The Gold Coast Rollers and Hobart Chargers produced brilliant performances to win their respective conference championships setting up a fascinating opening day match up at the National Finals.
Gold Coast finished the NBL1 North on top of the table before almost being knocked out immediately by the eighth ranked Logan Thunder.
However, they dug deep to win that game and then dominate the rest of the way including winning the Grand Final Series against USC Rip City in two games to break through for a first championship since 1988.
Hobart also finished the NBL1 South season on top and then overcame the Mount Gambier Pioneers in the Grand Final.
That set up a tantalising match up to open the National Finals but it took an extra intrigue when the Brisbane Bullets NBL players made unavailable. That meant there was no Jason Cadee, Tanner Krebs and DJ Mitchell for Gold Coast, and no Harry Froling for Hobart.
The Chargers were also without Tasmania JackJumpers pair Sam McDaniel and Jarred Bairstow while the Rollers were still led by former NBL import at two clubs, and All-First Team member Lamar Patterson.
So there was a lot of unknowns about how both teams would come together and it was Gold Coast who lit it up early to race out to an 11-point lead, and to be up 28-19 still by quarter-time.
The Rollers then blew the game wide open in the second quarter by opening up a 27-point lead and the game appeared over.
Gold Coast still led 58-31 at half-time but Hobart weren’t about to throw in the towel and they caught fire themselves in the second quarter.
The Chargers delivered 34 points to 13 and that saw them earn an important point for winning the quarter, but even more importantly gave them a chance of snatching the win.
However, they couldn’t quite complete the comeback with Gold Coast holding firm down the stretch for the eventual 92-86 victory.
Having the experience and leadership of someone the calibre of Lamar Patterson proved instrumental in the win for the Rollers. He finished with 19 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists while playing 35 minutes.
Jaryd Eustace added 19 points, five rebounds and three assists for Gold Coast, Nevarda Higgins 17 points and four boards, Devon Sullivan 11 points, 19 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals, and Jaze Morris 10 points.
German powerhouse Ole Angerstein delivered 19 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks for Hobart, AJ Harris 16 points, eight assists and four rebounds, Jaylen Howard 19 points and six boards, and Jacob Richards 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 87 defeated SOUTH ADELAIDE PANTHERS 71
The best of the west and the best of South Australia opened up the National Finals on Friday night with the Rockingham Flames proving too strong for the South Adelaide Panthers.
Both teams were fresh off winning memorable championships just last Saturday night with the Flames breaking through for their first ever NBL1 West title while the Panthers also won in what was the first year in charge of legendary coach Scott Ninnis.
Rockingham has long been banging on the door for their first championship and reached the Grand Final in 2021, but it was in 2022 when the Flames made history by beating the Geraldton Buccaneers in last week's Grand Final.
Under the coaching of WNBL Coach of the Year Ryan Petrik who also led Rockingham to their first two ever women's championships, the Flames added Devondrick Walker and Marshall Nelson to a team led by Ryan Godfrey, Greg Hire and Tom Jervis.
It led them to championship glory and they arrived in Melbourne for the National Finals without Walker and Hire, but still with a team chock full of former NBL talent with Jervis and Nelson, and led by stalwarts Godfrey, Justin Beard and Travis Durnin.
Meanwhile, it was a memorable first season in charge at South Adelaide for Ninnis who remains the only person involved as a player or coach in all four NBL championships for the Adelaide 36ers.
The Panthers delivered a dominant Grand Final performance last Saturday night to beat the Woodville Warriors, but taking on a powerful Rockingham was always going to be a significant test first up at the National Finals.
It was South Adelaide who got off to an impressive start to open up a seven-point lead by quarter-time, but Rockingham warmed to the task in the second term and it was all on the back of their inspirational leader Ryan Godrey.
Just six days after living out his dream after leading the Flames to their first ever championship, he lit it up in the second quarter by being aggressive taking it inside and also lighting up from the outside including knocking one down from near halfcourt.
The Flames put up 31 points to 13 in the second term to open up a 48-37 advantage heading into half-time.
Rockingham maintained that advantage throughout the second half to end up leading by as much as 19 points and then to claim the 87-71 victory to have now won 10 matches in-a-row.
The shooting was the major difference in the game with Rockingham going at 47.1 per cent overall compared with South Adelaide's 34.2 along with knocking down 14/39 from three-point land opposed to 4/26.
Ryan Godfrey was the spark for Rockingham in the win finishing with 26 points, four rebounds and two assists while connecting on 4/5 from three-point range.
Justin Beard added 18 points and eight rebounds while hitting 5/15 from downtown while Marshall Nelson finished with 16 points and three assists, Jake Amos 10 points and three rebounds, Callum Beard eight points and five boards, and Tom Jervis seven points and 12 rebounds.
Jeremy Smith finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for South Adelaide with Todd Davies contributing 18 points, Alex Starling 11 points, nine rebounds and seven steals, and Codey Ellison seven points and six boards.
