NBL1 North Recap | Friday Round 8

Mikaela Ruef led Logan Thunder to another NBL1 North win on Friday night with Catherine Reese sparking the Gold Coast Rollers and the Darwin Salties just staying unbeaten while Jason Cadee, Shaun Bruce, Majok Deng and Isaac White were among the men to shine.

The three women's matches in the NBL1 North on Friday night saw the Logan Thunder beat the Brisbane Capitals 83-61, the Gold Coast Rollers defeat the Townsville Flames 67-57, the Darwin Salties hold out the Mackay Meteorettes 76-75.

Then in the men's clashes, Logan defeated Brisbane 98-79, Gold Coast downed Townsville 106-93, and Mackay beat Darwin 92-86.

WOMEN

Ruef's presence leads Logan to big win

The rollercoaster ride of the Logan Thunder this season took another upward swing at home on Friday night with Mikaela Ruef dominant again in the 83-61 win against the Brisbane Capitals.

It's been quite the ride for Logan already this season on the back of their undefeated regular season in 2022 before losing the Grand Final series to the Townsville Flames.

The Thunder lost three of their first four games of the season while admittedly being shorthanded before bouncing back for three straight wins while welcoming Mikaela Ruef back into the line-up fresh off helping the Townsville Fire win the WNBL championship.

However, Logan had a slip up last week to the North Gold Coast Seahawks on their home floor and were back at Bendigo Bank Cornubia Park Sports Centre on Friday night to host the Caps.

The Thunder started strongly with 23 points to 15 and maintained control the rest of the evening and continued to build on that lead to end up winning by 22.

The victory sees Logan improve to 5-4 on the season ahead of being away to the Sunshine Coast Phoenix on Saturday while Brisbane is now 5-4 with three straight defeats.

Mikaela Ruef was an unstoppable force again for Logan finishing with 21 points, 22 rebounds and seven assists on 8/14 shooting from the floor.

Mikhaela Cann added 13 points including 5/7 shooting making both her three-point attempts with Odette Isaac contributing 10 points and five assists, and Chevannah Paalvast nine points and six assists.

Mia Loyd top-scored once again for Brisbane with 18 points and four rebounds with Anna Cameron adding 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals, and Steph Collins 11 points, six boards, four assists and two steals.

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Reese sparks Rollers to bounce back victory

The Gold Coast Rollers snapped a losing slide beating the Townsville Flames 67-57 at home on Saturday night.

Both teams came into the clash at Carrara Stadium on 4-5 records with Gold Coast having lost its last two while Townsville was fresh off beating the Southern Districts Spartans last week.

The Rollers started well to open up an early seven-point lead and they never surrendered the advantage the rest of the evening.

The Flames were still hanging around but it was in the fourth quarter where Gold Coast pulled away to shoot out to a 13-point lead and then to end up scoring the 10-point victory.

The result sees Gold Coast improve to 5-5 in their lone game of the weekend while Townsville is 4-6 in their first of three road games this round with games with the Seahawks and Pirates to come.

Catherine Reese continued her standout form for Gold Coast with another 25 points, nine rebounds and two assists with Ariana Moorer adding 13 points, 10 boards and six assists.

Carla Drennan also had 12 points, four rebounds and two assists with Charmian Mellars ending up with six points and 12 boards.

Steph Reid did all she could to try and lift Townsville to the win with 27 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals but she just didn’t have enough help in the end.

Alex Fowler ended up with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Kate Gaze seven points and four boards.

Steph Reid ????? ????? off the dribble ?

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Salties stay perfect with one-point win in Mackay

The Darwin Salties maintained their undefeated start to the NBL1 North season to begin their road double but only by the slimmest possible margin against the Mackay Meteorettes.

The Salties put their perfect record on the line against the Meteorettes on Friday night but it was Mackay determined to make a statement and attempt to end a three-game losing slide.

Tsubasa Nisbet's moves are slick ?

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The home team started strongly with 28 points to 21 in the opening quarter, but Darwin worked its way on top from there and were leading by 10 with just over six minutes to play in the last period.

However, Mackay refused to give in and did get back as close as a point within the dying stages, but they couldn’t ever quite grab the lead and Darwin held on to win 76-75.

The victory improves the Salties to 8-0 on the season with a clash in Rockhampton to come on Saturday with Mackay suffering a fourth straight loss to be 2-8 in their lone game of the weekend.

Chelsea Brook came up with 22 points and 10 rebounds on 8/12 shooting in the win for the Salties with Ruby Porter adding 21 points, and Erin Bollmann 18 points, 12 boards, seven assists and five steals.

Brittany Reeves ended the night with 22 points and 10 rebounds for Mackay with Denesha Bobongie contributing 17 points, four rebounds and two steals, Charli Bliss 10 points and six boards, and Davida Dale 10 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, five steals and two blocks.

Okay Davida Dale, we see your step back ?

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MEN

Bruce helps keep Logan on top with win over Caps

Logan Thunder maintained their hold on top spot in the NBL1 North with Shaun Bruce expertly running the ship on the way to the eventual 98-79 victory against the Brisbane Capitals.

Logan came into the clash on their home floor to open Round 8 unbeaten at Bendigo Bank Cornubia Park Sports Centre in 2023 ahead of hosting a Capitals team still hunting their second win of the season.

While the Thunder were on top most of the evening, the Caps did well to stay in touch for a lot of it but the longer it went the more Logan started to assert its authority.

Two huge threes from Majok Deng late in the third quarter helped Logan remain on top before being able to dominate the fourth quarter with another 23 points to 19 to end up winning by 19.

The victory improves the Thunder to 8-1 on the season having won seven straight with a game to the Sunshine Coast Phoenix to come on Saturday night. Brisbane is now 1-8 having lost three in-a-row in their only game of Round 8.

Shaun Bruce was brilliant for Logan finishing with 22 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists with Majok Deng continuing to show that he's deserving of another NBL contract with 30 points, 13 boards, four assists, two steals and two blocks.

Boston Mazlin added 15 points, two assists and two steals, Mitch Young 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Elijah Puna nine points and six boards.

Malok Majak top-scored for Brisbane with 17 points and eight rebounds with Trevor Lakes adding 15 points and four boards, and James Moors seven points and six rebounds.

Lachie Dent splashed that ?

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Blanchfield fires early in Rollers win over Heat

A hot start from Todd Blanchfield set the Gold Coast Rollers up for Jason Cadee to take over for them to make it seven straight wins beating the Townsville Heat 106-93.

Gold Coast came into the contest at Carrara Stadium having won six straight with their championship defence building momentum ahead of hosting a Townsville team on a five-game losing run ahead of this three-match road trip weekend.

Blanchfield showed all the class and quality of a 373-game NBL veteran ahead of his return to the Illawarra Hawks in NBL24 by delivering a hot start with 15 points in the first quarter to set Gold Coast up for the big win.

He scored 15 of Gold Coast's 31 points in the opening period including hitting three triples as they opened up a double-figure advantage.

Despite that hot opening from the Rollers, Townsville did well to stay in touch and only be nine points down at half-time despite a crafty finish on the buzzer going to the hoop from Preston Le Gassick.

But by three quarter-time Gold Coast had put the game to bed blowing it out to a 23-point ball game. To Townsville's credit they kept on fighting and cut the final margin to 13.

The result improves the Rollers to an 8-2 record on the season with seven straight wins while Townsville is 3-7 having lost six straight and road games to come this weekend to the Seahawks and Pirates.

Blanchfield might have had the hot start for Gold Coast, but it was captain Jason Cadee who had a brilliant night where he finished with 30 points, 16 assists and eight rebounds including going 5/12 from downtown and 11/11 at the foul line.

Blanchfield finished with 21 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals on 5/9 long-range shooting while Elijah Kamu contributed 20 points, three rebounds and two assists, and Preston Le Gassick 17 points, six assists and five rebounds with 5/7 three-point shooting.

Luca Yates delivered 23 points and 14 rebounds for Townsville with Ethan Betts adding 23 points, seven boards and six assists, Marcellus Garrick 19 points and four assists, and Matthew Rees nine points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.

If Elijah Kamu wants to get to the rack, he's gonna get there ?

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White fires for Meteors to snap losing streak

The Mackay Meteors were staring down the barrel of a fifth consecutive loss at home to the Darwin Salties on Friday night before overrunning the visitors.

Mackay opened the season in the NBL1 North winning the opening five matches but have since suffered four straight losses to the Pirates, Rollers, Marlins and Salties ahead of the return fixture at home to Darwin on Friday night.

Darwin did beat Mackay by 14 points at home last Saturday night so arrived at Mackay Basketball Stadium rightfully full of confidence, and for three quarters they were on top of the Meteors.

The Salties were six points on top at quarter-time before stretching that lead to nine by half-time on the back of a late three-pointer from Deba George.

Darwin still clung to a one-point lead by three quarter-time but it was all Mackay in the fourth period as they showed the desperation to avoid a fifth straight loss and once again it was Isaac White leading the charge.

He also got under the skin of some of the Salties players especially Jerron Jamerson with the Meteors ending up winning 92-86 to improve to 6-4 on the season. Darwin is now 5-3 ahead of also facing Rockhampton on the road on Saturday night.

Isaac White had another standout performance for Mackay ahead of joining the Brisbane Bullets for NBL24. He ended up with 34 points, nine rebounds, six assists and two steals including 12/14 at the free-throw line.

DJ Baptiste was a beast as well for the Meteors with 16 points, 19 rebounds, five assists and four blocks with Tyler Williams adding 15 points, six boards and five steals, and Isaiah Lee with 10 points, seven assists and four rebounds.

Sydney Kings signing Makuach Maluach had a big night to for Darwin with 28 points and 11 rebounds while Deba George contributed 15 points and five assists, Viliami Foketi 13 points, Sean Macdonald 12 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals, and Deng Riak 11 points and 10 boards.

Djery Baptiste ain't having that in his house?? ?

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