NBL1 North Recap | Friday Round 5

Mikhaela Cann, Catherine MacGregor, Courtney Wragg, Majok Deng, Ky Stattmann and Ben Volkman were among the players to produce match-winning performances as Round 5 in the NBL1 North began on Friday night.

The three Friday night NBL1 North women's matches saw the Logan Thunder beat Red City Roar 98-67 while the Darwin Salties beat the Cairns Dolphins 92-69, and the South West Metro Pirates downed the Rockhampton Cyclones 51-48.

Then in the men's match ups, the Thunder beat the Roar 111-87 with the Marlins defeating the Salties 90-73 and the Pirates downed the Rockhampton Rockets 99-64.

WOMEN

Cann brilliant in big Thunder win over Roar 

Defending NBL1 North champions the Logan Thunder are now working into the season nicely as they kept the Red City Roar winless with the 98-67 home win on Friday night.

Logan did start the season with a couple of losses, but after Friday's 31-point win over the Roar they have won two of the past three to be starting to build some momentum.

Lilly Rotunno from ???? ?

Perfect marks from long range for the Red City youngster so far ?

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Chasing their first win of the season, Red City stuck with Logan early in the game but the Thunder began to pull away with 20 points to 11 in the second quarter.

Logan then outscored Red City 54 points to 32 in the second half on the way to the 31-point victory to improve to a 2-3 record with the Roar now 0-5.

Mikhaela Cann was outstanding for the Thunder finishing with 27 points, eight assists and seven rebounds on 9/15 shooting from the field and 8/11 from the free-throw line.

Enjoy all 8 (yes, 8??) of Ashley Taia's three-pointers as Logan downed Red City ?

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Ashley Taia added 25 points, four rebounds and two assists, Mackenzie Auton 11 points, five boards and three assists, Chevannah Paalvast 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists, Odette Isaac 10 points, five boards, three assists and three steals, and Alleah Hanson 10 points and three rebounds.

Caitlin Cunningham top-scored for Red City with 18 points, nine rebounds and three assists with Lilly Rotunno contributing 14 points and three boards, and Qaizden Stephano 11 points and six rebounds.

Mikhaela Cann nearly broke the sound barrier! ?

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Salties hit the round and remain undefeated

The Darwin Salties hit the road for the first time this NBL1 North season and remained undefeated with the 92-69 victory against the Cairns Dolphins.

The Salties won their first three games of the season at home to Southern Districts, Cairns and Rockhampton, and then hit the road for the first time in 2023 and kept their hot form going at the expense of the Dolphins.

Darwin built their lead right throughout the evening to lead by five points at quarter-time before leading by eight at half-time, 17 at three quarter-time and then winning by 23 to improve to a perfect 4-0 on the season.

Catherine MacGregor was the star of the night for the Salties with 25 points and five rebounds while knocking down 4/7 from three-point range.

Erin Bollmann delivered another 14 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists and five steals with Chelsea Brook contributing 14 points and seven boards, Ruby Porter 12 points and Jess Boundy 11 points and two blocks.

WNBA draftee Shaneice Swain fought valiantly for Cairns with 21 points and five rebounds with Taylor Mole adding 17 points and seven boards, and Penina Davidson 12 points and eight rebounds.

Pirates hold off fast finishing Cyclones on the road

It was quite the low scoring grind but in the end the South West Metro Pirates held out the fast finishing Rockhampton Cyclones for the 51-48 road win.

With both teams having lost just one game each for the season so far, it was always going to be a fascinating affair to open Round 5 at Bravus Arena, and it didn’t disappoint as a contest even if they did only combine to score 99 points.

The Pirates started strongly on the road to lead 19-15 by quarter-time before holding Rockhampton to just eight points in the second period to head into the half-time break on top 35-23.

South West Metro was still leading 46-33 by three quarter-time, but Rockhampton threw everything at them in the fourth period.

The Cyclones locked in on the Pirates defensively to hold them to five points the entire last quarter. They would score 15 points themselves but it wasn’t quite enough with South West Metro holding on for the three-point win.

The result means that the Pirates improve to 5-1 on the season with the Cyclones now 4-2.

Neither team had an offensive night to remember with the Pirates going at 29.5 per cent from the floor while hitting 7/32 from three-point range while the Cyclones went at 30.7 per cent overall and then made just 1/12 from beyond the arc.

Courtney Wragg top-scored for South West Metro with 15 points to go with nine points, three assists and two steals.

Lulu Twidale added 12 points and three rebounds, Leah Scott 11 points, 13 boards, six assists and four steals, and Hannah Young five points and seven rebounds.

Samantha Bowman produced another 16 points and 16 rebounds for Rockhampton despite shooting just 5/19 with Lauren Heard adding 16 points, five boards, five assists and three steals, and Lara McSpadden 14 points and 16 rebounds.

You can't get past Leah Scott ?‍??

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MEN

Deng delivers 39 in big Logan win over Red City

The Logan Thunder have now strung together three consecutive wins with a dominant showing against the Red City Roar to win 111-87 on Friday night.

Despite the absence of veteran centre Mitch Young due to the birth of he and his wife's first child, Logan still had too much firepower for the Roar with Majok Deng putting in a scintillating performance as he attempts to earn another NBL contract.

Rasmus Bach is raising the roof! ?

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The Thunder started on fire with 33 points to 21 in the first quarter and that set the tone for the rest of the evening as they went on to score the 24-point victory to improve to 4-1 on the season with Red City now 2-3.

While Deng is yet to sign at a third club as he attempts to continue his 201-game NBL career, he was brilliant on Friday night for Logan delivering 39 points, 11 rebounds and two steals while shooting 15/21 from the floor, 2/4 from three-point land and 7/8 at the free-throw line.

Another player hunting an NBL contract at a third team, Rasmus Bach finished with 21 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Thunder with Boston Mazlin contributing 18 points, six assists and five boards, and Elijah Puna 10 points and five rebounds.

Nelson Larkins continued his tremendous form for Red City despite the loss with 25 points, three assists, three steals and two rebounds while hitting 3/6 from three-point range.

Jaylen Key added 23 points and eight rebounds, Mitch Poulain 11 points and five rebounds, and Javaan Mumtaz 10 points and two boards.

Majok Deng went ??? in Logan's win over Red City ?

He capped off his night with a massive 3??9?? points, 1??1?? rebound double-double.

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Stattmann shines in home win for Marlins

Ky Stattmann lit up Early Settler Stadium on Friday night with 36 points as the Cairns Marlins beat the Darwin Salties 90-73 in impressive fashion.

The Salties hit the road for the first time this season having won two of their three home matches to start 2023, but that lone loss in Darwin was at the expense of Cairns and the Marlins were able to repeat the dose on Friday night. 

Darwin did start the game well with 25 points to 20 in the first quarter but the Marlins began to turn the tide in the second term with 31 points to 25.

Cairns then outscored Darwin 39 points to 23 in the second half on the way to the 17-point win to improve to 3-4 on the season with the Salties now 2-2.

Ky Stattmann produced the best performance of his NBL1 career to date leading Cairns to the win on the back of his 36 points and nine rebounds with shooting 12/22 from the field, 2/6 from beyond the arc and 10/11 from the foul line.

Jonah Antonio added 18 points and six rebounds for the Marlins while hitting 4/6 from three-point range with Tad Dufelmeier adding 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists against the team he spent last season with.

Sean Macdonald finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals for Darwin with Deba George adding 12 points and three steals, Makuach Maluach 12 points and seven rebounds, and Jerron Jamerson 12 points, four rebounds and four steals.

Pirates kept Rockets winless this NBL1 North season

The South West Metro Pirates ensured the Rockhampton Rockets remain winless this NBL1 North season with the 99-64 victory on the road on Friday night.

Rockhampton was back home at Bravus Arena still chasing that first win of the season in their sixth attempt, but it didn’t take long for South West Metro to assert their authority on the contest.

The Pirates put up 34 points to 17 in the opening quarter, and the tone was set for the evening. Eventually South West Metro won by 35 points to improve to 2-4 on the season with the Rockets now 0-6.

Ben Volkman ended the night with 17 points and 11 rebounds on 8/9 shooting for the Pirates with Kai Woodfall adding 17 points, six boards and four assists.

Zac Carter also had 15 points and eight rebounds, Lamar Patterson 13 points and four assists, Cameron Gordon 11 points and two rebounds, and Brendan Teys 10 points, three boards and three steals.

Damian Prgomet produced a strong showing despite the loss for Rockhampton with 24 points and nine rebounds with Chier Maker adding 17 points, 10 boards and four assists, and Nikau McCullough nine points, three assists, three steals and two rebounds.