NBL1 North Recap | Friday First Nations Round

Mikaela Ruef led Logan Thunder to ninth straight NBL1 North win with Lexi Held lifting North Gold Coast Seahawks late, Courtney Woods keeping Northside Wizards top and Isaac White shone again for Mackay Meteors and Koen Sapwell was brilliant for Southern Districts Spartans.

First Nations Round in the NBL1 North began with the women's matches that saw the Southern Districts Spartans beat the Brisbane Capitals 84-60, Logan Thunder defeat the South West Metro Pirates 71-61, the North Gold Coast Seahawks down the Mackay Meteorettes 95-90, and the Northside Wizards win 110-72 against the Cairns Dolphins.

The men's matches had the Spartans beat the Capitals 101-94, the Pirates down the Thunder 89-82, the Meteors defeat the Seahawks 89-77, and the Wizards beat the Marlins 88-86.

WOMEN

Spartans stay fourth with win over Caps

The Southern Districts Spartans consolidated their hold on a top four position in the NBL1 North to open the second last round with the 84-60 home victory against the Brisbane Capitals.

The Caps still remained a chance of reaching the playoffs entering the last two rounds with three games remaining, but they couldn’t afford a slip on the road to the Spartans on Friday night at Rowland Cowan Stadium.

The Spartans also needed to keep their winning run going setting up a terrific match up, but the home team didn’t take long to work their way on top.

Southern Districts raced out to an 11-point lead and that blew out to as much as 26 in the second term before going into the half-time break in control leading 49-36.

While the Caps fought back with 20 points to eight in the third quarter, the Spartans took back control with another 27 points to 14 in the fourth term to claim the 24-point victory.

The win gives the Spartans six in-a-row to improve to a 13-5 record while it's a blow to the playoff hopes of the Caps who are now 8-9.

Jess McDowell-White ended up top-scoring for Southern Districts with 14 points, 10 assists, three rebounds and three assists on the back of knocking down 4/7 from downtown.

Natalie Taylor added 13 points, 11 boards, three assists and three steals, Alice Dart 13 points and five rebounds, Elin Gustavsson 11 points, nine boards and four assists, and Isabella Cravens 10 points and four rebounds.

Steph Collins produced 18 points, three rebounds and two blocks for Brisbane, Bronte Corke 11 points and three boards, Hilary Fuller 10 points, seven rebounds and two steals, Anna Cameron seven points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Ruef fires Logan to ninth straight win

Mikaela Ruef was again a powerful presence as the Logan Thunder made it nine straight to consolidate a top two NBL1 North spot with the 71-61 victory against the South West Metro Pirates.

The Pirates were home at Hibiscus Sports Stadium still a chance to break into the top four as they hosted a Logan team on an eight-game winning streak still a chance at back-to-back regular season championships.

There was plenty on the line for both teams who each were playing their third last game of the regular season with South West Metro opening up a five-point lead on Logan by quarter-time.

Logan worked on top in the second stanza, though, scoring 10 straight points and by half-time they were leading 38-33.

The Thunder continued to pull away further throughout the second half with another 20 points to 11 in the third term to see the lead extend to 15 and eventually Logan was able to win by 10.

The victory means that Logan has now won nine straight to improve to a 13-4 record with the Pirates slipping to 11-6 having now lost three straight and not guaranteed of a playoff berth just yet.

Mikaela Ruef continued her standout form for Logan with another 20 points, 27 rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block with 12/14 from the foul line.

Chevannah Paalvast added 15 points, six assists and five rebounds, Ula Motuga 15 points, five boards and two assists, and Ashley Taia six points and four assists.

Leah Scott put up 23 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals for South West Metro with Maddy Rocci contributing 18 points, 11 boards, four assists and two steals.

Maddison Rocci 2???1?? ?

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Held shines as Seahawks overpower Meteorettes late

The North Gold Coast Seahawks have attracted the nail-biting finishes this NBL1 North season and there was another on Friday night as they scored the 95-90 victory against the Mackay Meteorettes.

It was a crucial game for the Seahawks too as they arrived at Mackay Basketball Stadium clinging to eighth position coming into the second last round of the season.

Mackay made a flying start in their second last game of the season and scored 12 straight points to open up a 10-point lead before still clinging to a two-point advantage at quarter-time.

The Seahawks turned the tide in the second term piling on 32 points to 19 to lead themselves by as much as 16 points, and by 11 still at the main break.

North Gold Coast were still leading by as much as seven in the fourth quarter, but the Meteorettes fired back and scored eight straight points of their own and were leading by as much as four.

Mackay had that four-point advantage with 1:15 to play after a jumper from Denesha Bobongie. 

The Seahawks needed to respond or risk dropping out of the top eight this weekend and Carly Remmos hit a three-pointer soon after before then also scoring inside.

Lexi Held stretched that Seahawks lead to three and ultimately they would win by five after two free-throws from Bride Kennedy-Hopoate to improve to a 9-7 record to remain inside the top eight.

It was Held who was brilliant once more for North Gold Coast with 37 points, three assists and three steals on shooting 14/22 from the field, 4/10 from behind the three-point line, and 5/5 at the foul line.

Erin Riley added 21 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and three assists, Emma Gandini 16 points and five steals, Bride Kennedy-Hopoate eight points and two boards, and Carly Remmos seven points and five rebounds.

Davida Dale ended up with 19 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and three steals for Mackay with Denesha Bobongie adding 19 points, five blocks, four rebounds, four assists and three steals, and Brittany Reeves 19 points, 17 boards and three assists.

 

Woods keeps Wizards top with win in Cairns

The Northside Wizards maintained top position in the NBL1 North to open the second last round of the season with the 110-72 victory on the road to the Cairns Dolphins.

The Wizards were still clinging to top position after losing the last two matches to the Darwin Salties and Southern Districts Spartans ahead of their road double this weekend starting at Early Settler Stadium on Friday night.

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While the Wizards did need to win to hold top spot, it was a crucial game for Cairns too who need to win its last two matches to be any hope of reaching the playoffs.

The Wizards scored 13 points straight in the opening quarter to take control with that lead growing to 24 in the second period, and 27 in the third.

There was no let up from the Wizards who put together another 12 consecutive points in the fourth stanza on the way to the thumping 38-point triumph to hold out Logan in top spot at 14-3.

It was a tough loss for the Dolphins who slip to 9-9 with just one game of their season remaining next Saturday at home to USC Rip City.

Courtney Woods starred in the win for the Wizards with 23 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals on 8/14 shooting from the floor, 2/3 from deep and 5/5 at the foul line.

Nadeen Payne contributed 20 points and 10 rebounds, AJ Johnson 19 points and 10 boards, Lil Dart 14 points, four rebounds and two assists, and Alice O'Driscoll 12 points, nine boards and three steals.

Penina Davidson produced 15 points and five rebounds for Cairns with Shaneice Swain adding 15 points and five boards, Jennifer Coleman 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Taylor Mole 13 points, two boards and two steals.

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MEN

Sapwell delivers 40 as Spartans win fifth straight

Koen Sapwell ensured the Southern Districts Spartans further entrenched themselves in the NBL1 North playoffs by beating the Brisbane Capitals 101-94 at home on Friday night.

The Spartans did come into the contest at home to the out of contention Capitals needing to keep winning to stay in a playoff spot but it turned out a tremendous contest at Rowland Cowan Stadium.

Brisbane started strongly to lead by 10 shortly before quarter-time but Southern Districts was able to score 12 of the last 16 points of the term to be just down two after one.

The Caps continued to do well leading by as much as nine points in the second quarter and seven in the third, but the Spartans kept firing back each occasion and it was they who were leading 74-73 going into the fourth quarter.

It remained a fascinating contest and scares were again level at 90-90 with 2:30 to play after a three-pointer to Brisbane from Trevor Lakes. But The Spartans responded to put the game beyond doubt starting with a good finish from Koen Sapwell.

Alex Mudronja then drained a three and the Spartans from there were able to close out the seven-point win to improve to 10-8 on the season having won five in-a-row.

Koen Sapwell produced a spectacular performance for the Spartans as he continues to bang down the door for an NBL opportunity. He put up another 40 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and three steals on 13/24 shooting from the floor, 6/10 from beyond the arc and 8/12 at the foul line.

Kian Dennis added 14 points and five rebounds for Southern Districts, Akoldah Gak 12 points, 10 boards and four blocks, Alex Mudronja 12 points and five assists, and Fabijan Krslovic nine points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and four blocks.

James Moors top-scored for Brisbane with 20 points and 11 rebounds with Trevor Lakes adding 19 points with 6/9 three-point shooting, Lachie Dent 15 points and eight assists, and Nick Stoddart 14 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals.

 

Pirates go fourth with win over Thunder

The South West Metro Pirates moved into the top four in the NBL1 North with the 89-82 victory against the second placed Logan Thunder at home on Friday night.

With Logan attempting to stay clear in second spot and the Pirates to go fourth, there was plenty on the line to open the second last round of the regular season with both teams having three matches remaining.

It was a tight contest throughout the first half with scores tied by quarter-time before the Pirates did begin to pull away in the second term to lead 39-34 at intermission.

South West Metro then put up 32 points to 25 in the third quarter and the lead got out to as much as 15 points in the fourth stanza before they held out the fast finishing Logan to end up winning by seven.

The victory improves the Pirates to fourth position with a 10-7 record while the Thunder remain second at 14-3.

Jeremy McLaughlin stepped up for South West Metro in the win with 22 points and eight rebounds on 9/11 shooting from the field.

Brendan Teys added 20 points, two rebounds and two assists, Kai Woodfall 19 points, five assists and four boards, Lamar Patterson 12 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals, and Zac Carter six points, six boards and three assists.

Majok Deng produced 32 points and seven rebounds for Logan on 11/19 shooting with Shaun Bruce contributing 19 points, seven boards and four assists, and Rasmus Bach 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

 

White brilliant in crucial Meteors win

Isaac White strengthened his case to be NBL1 North MVP with another dazzling performance to lead the Mackay Meteors to the 89-77 victory at home to the North Gold Coast Seahawks.

The Seahawks arrived at Mackay Basketball Stadium all but out of the playoff race two games out of the top eight with three matches remaining but the Meteors did need to keep winning to stay in the top eight, and a chance to finish in the top four.

As a result, Mackay started well to lead by seven at quarter-time and they were never headed from there on their home court.

The lead for the Meteors grew to 14 points in the second quarter and then 18 in the third before they ended up scoring the 12-point victory to improve to an 11-8 record to consolidate their playoff position.

Brisbane Bullets NBL guard Isaac White was once again the star of the night for the Meteors finishing with 30 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists and three steals on the back of shooting 9/25 from the floor, 4/9 from behind the three-point line, and 8/8 at the foul line.

Tyler Williams added 20 points, three rebounds and three assists for Mackay, Christian Maran 15 points, four boards and two assists, and DJ Baptiste five points and 12 rebounds.

Biwali Bayles put up 24 points, nine assists, three rebounds, three steals and two blocks for North Gold Coast with Wesley Harris contributing 16 points and 12 boards, Kody Stattmann 15 points and seven rebounds, Josh Duach 12 points, and Majok Majok 10 points and 11 rebounds.

 

White turns hero as Wizards hit last seven points

Andrew White III used all his class and experience to deliver the Northside Wizards the 88-86 road victory over the Cairns Marlins on Friday night to keep their playoff dream alive.

Just when the Marlins appeared to have the game in control on their home floor at Early Settler Stadium on the back of a 36-point third quarter to still be leading 86-81 with just over two minutes to play, that's when White fired up.

Having joined the Brisbane Bullets as an import in NBL23 and remaining in town to play the NBL1 North season at the Wizards, White turned match winner over the last two minutes.

It started with a three-point play to make it a two-point ball game before he knocked down a fadeaway jumper with just under a minute on the clock.

Then after a floater from Ky Stattmann missed up one end with scores tied, White took the ball inside and scored to give the Wizards the lead. There was still time for one last shot from Cairns but Tad Dufelmeier three-point attempt wouldn’t fall.

That saw the Wizards score the last seven points of the game all thanks to White to come from five points down to win by two to keep their season alive at 8-9. The Marlins are still vulnerable inside the top eight at 10-9 with the loss.

Not only did White score those last seven points, but he finished the night with 30 points and five rebounds for Northside on the back of shooting 12/22 from the field, 3/7 from beyond the arc and 3/4 at the foul line.

Lual Diing had a big performance too made up of 16 points, 21 rebounds, five assists and three steals with Cameron Healy contributing 17 points, five boards and three assists, and Kyle Zunic 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Tad Dufelmeier ended up with 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists for Cairns with Lachlan Anderson delivering 16 points and eight boards, Jonah Antonio 15 points and six rebounds, and Ky Stattmann 14 points, six boards and three assists.