NBL1 North Recap | Grand Finals Game 2

The Northside Wizards have been the standout women's team all season and completed the NBL1 North championship triumph while Nathan Sobey, the Galloway brothers, Deng Deng and Jason Ralph all ensured the Ipswich Force set up a Game 3 with the Gold Coast Rollers.

The NBL1 North Grand Final Series' continued on Saturday night with the women's championship decided with the Northside Wizards beating the Rockhampton Cyclones 70-59.

However, the men's decider is heading to a Game 3 on Sunday after the Ipswich Force defeated the Gold Coast Rollers 119-98.

NBL1 NORTH RECAP | GRAND FINALS GAME 1

WOMEN

Wizards too powerful to claim NBL1 North championship

The Rockhampton Cyclones threw everything at trying to force a deciding Grand Final game, but the Northside Wizards proved too powerful to claim the championship with the 70-59 victory.

The Wizards were the standout team right throughout the NBL1 North season finishing the regular season with a 16-3 record before booking in a Grand Final berth with wins against the Townsville Flames and South West Metro Phoenix.

Northside then proved a dominant force in Game 1 of the Grand Final Series on Friday night at Northside Indoor Sports Centre beating Rockhampton 87-52.

That left the Cyclones with quite the job to do to try and turn around that 35-point deficit 24 hours later, but Rockhampton did come out of the blocks impressively.

The Cyclones went on a 14-0 scoring streak in the opening quarter on the way to leading by as much as nine points, and still being up 25-18 by quarter-time.

While Rockhampton had started impressively, they just couldn't maintain it and the Wizards worked their way back on top with 22 points to 14 in the second quarter to go into half-time narrowly leading 40-39.

Northside was then able to gradually pull away in the second half to lead by as much as 12 points in the third stanza on the way to the eventual 11-point win to secure the NBL1 North championship with the two-nil Grand Final triumph.

On the back of being named the regular season MVP for the NBL1 North, Courtney Woods was also named Grand Final MVP having delivered 23 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in Game 2 with 7/14 shooting from the floor, 3/6 from beyond the arc and 6/6 at the charity stripe.

She had plenty of help once more too with AJ Johnson brilliant with the way she finished the season to be instrumental in the championship triumph. She had another 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

Lil Dart also had 17 points, five rebounds and two steals with Georgia Dale adding seven points, five rebounds and four steals, and Nadeen Payne five points and three boards in her 33 minutes of court time.

Rockhampton did well to make a game of it after how rough Friday night turned out to be with Lara McSpadden producing 20 points, 12 rebounds and two assists.

Lauren Heard added 11 points, five assists, five steals and four rebounds, Sam Bowman 10 points, 10 boards and three assists, and Tia Hay 13 points, two rebounds and two steals.

Lara McSpadden wants ???? ????? ?

The Rockhampton star has racked up 1??6?? first half points ?

Watch Game Two of the #NBL1NorthFinals Grand Final Series Live & Free via @kayosports Freebies ? pic.twitter.com/FKYXyDS2lP

— NBL1 (@NBL1) August 5, 2023

MEN

Sobey lifts Force to take Rollers to Game 3

Jason Cadee and Todd Blanchfield helped make the Gold Coast Rollers look unstoppable in Game 1 of the Grand Final Series, but with help from the Galloway brothers, Deng Deng and Jason Ralph, Nathan Sobey did the same for Ipswich Force in Game 2.

The defending champion Rollers earned the right to host the Grand Final Series at Carrara Stadium having finished the regular season in top spot and then advancing through the finals beating USC Rip City and the South West Metro Pirates.

Gold Coast then proved too strong in Game 1 against Ipswich on Friday night winning 100-86 meaning the Force had a lot of work to do to try and turn the tide 24 hours later to force a deciding Game 3.

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Watch Game Two of the #NBL1NorthFinals Grand Final Series Live & Free via @kayosports Freebies ? pic.twitter.com/56DHTyiKbm

— NBL1 (@NBL1) August 5, 2023

The signs weren’t great over the first eight minutes that Ipswich would be able to stem the tide and turn things around with Todd Blanchfield beginning his huge individual night and helping Gold Coast to 30 points already in that time.

The Rollers were still leading 34-27 by quarter-time but then it was Nathan Sobey's turn to take charge and with the help of the athleticism of Kyrin and Jaylin Galloway, the presence of Deng Deng, and the poise of point guard Jason Ralph, the Force worked their way on top.

Ipswich outscored Gold Coast 34 points to 23 in the second quarter and that saw the visitors lead 61-57 by half-time.

Gold Coast remained in striking distance with the margin just two at three quarter-time, and the reigning champions even grabbed the lead briefly to start the fourth quarter.

However, what happened from there was a complete domination from Ipswich with the Force outscoring the Rollers 31 points to 12 in the final period to and up winning 119-98 and setting up a fascinating deciding Game 3 on Sunday.

It was quite the emphatic performance from Ipswich especially after conceding 30 points in the game's first eight minutes but then ending up scoring 119 themselves for the game on shooting 52.4 per cent from the field including 16/40 from three-point range at 40.0 per cent.

TODD BLANCHFIELD YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS ?

That's a Grand Final POSTER??

Watch Game Two of the #NBL1NorthFinals Grand Final Series Live & Free via @kayosports Freebies ? pic.twitter.com/NQc7CFrtXv

— NBL1 (@NBL1) August 5, 2023

Brisbane Bullets and Australian Boomers superstar Nathan Sobey just wasn’t going to let Ipswich go down without forcing the decider and produced 39 points, six rebounds and three assists on 14/23 shooting from the field, 5/11 from behind the arc and 6/6 at the free-throw line.

He had plenty of help too including Kyrin Galloway producing 21 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks. His brother Jaylin also added 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

Deng Deng delivered 13 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and three blocks in a mature and composed performance with captain Jason Ralph running things expertly too with 14 points, eight assists, five rebounds and two steals.

Matt Hodgson had a good impact too in his nine minutes with nine points and three rebounds.

Despite the loss, Todd Blanchfield had a night out for Gold Coast finishing with 40 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals on shooting 14/27 from the field, 6/13 from three-point range and 6/6 at the free-throw line.

Preston Le Gassick also had 18 points, five rebounds and three assists for the Rollers, Jason Cadee 16 points, 13 assists and seven boards, Tidjane Diop 10 points and five rebounds, and Elijah Kamu nine points.

Off the back of Nathan Sobey's near 40-piece, the Ipswich Force have tied the #NBL1NorthFinals Grand Final Series ?

Tune in tonight for Game Three Live & Free from 3:00pm AEST via Kayo Freebies ? pic.twitter.com/coTDXpfSYR

— NBL1 (@NBL1) August 5, 2023