NBL1 North Recap | Quarter Finals

Courtney Woods produced an MVP performance for Northside Wizards in NBL1 North quarter finals as did Jason Cadee for Gold Coast Rollers with Nathan Sobey lifting Ipswich over Cairns despite Jonah Antonio's 10 threes while Maddy Rocci and Leah Scott fired for South West Metro Pirates.

The women's NBL1 North quarter-final results saw the South West Metro Pirates beat the Southern Districts Spartans 69-58, the Northside Wizards down the Townsville Flames 65-60, the Logan Thunder defeat the Gold Coast Rollers 66-62, and the Rockhampton Cyclones beat the Darwin Salties 72-63.

The men's results saw the Gold Coast Rollers beat USC Rip City 99-96, the Ipswich Force defeat the Cairns Marlins 99-92, the South West Metro Pirates down the Mackay Meteors 94-72, and the Logan Thunder defeat the Darwin Salties 81-66.

WOMEN

Rocci, Scott lead Pirates over Spartans

The one-two punch of Maddy Rocci and Leah Scott led the South West Metro Pirates to the 69-58 quarter-final victory at Hibiscus Sports Stadium against the Southern Districts Spartans.

The two teams finished the regular season on identical 13-6 records with the Pirates fourth and Spartans fifth to earn home court advantage only thanks to a one-point win in their lone meeting.

South West Metro raced out to a 12-point lead in the opening quarter but Southern Districts did well to hit back with eight straight points and to only trail by two at quarter-time.

Things remained tight in the second quarter with the Pirates only leading 35-30 going into the interval.

However, South West Metro pulled away in the second half with 15 points to eight in the third quarter helping them on the way to a 19-point lead in the fourth stanza before securing the 11-point victory.

The result means that the Pirates advance to a semi-final against the Northside Wizards next Saturday at Northside Indoor Sports Centre while the season is over for the Spartans.

Maddy Rocci finished the game with 27 points, six rebounds and three assists for South West Metro on the back of shooting 8/19 from the field, 2/3 from downtown and 9/10 at the free-throw line.

Leah Scott added 22 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and four steals for the Pirates, Alana Fraser six points, four boards and four assists, and Hannah Young five points and nine rebounds.

Elin Gustavsson ended the season for the Spartans with another 16 points and 11 rebounds with Jess McDowell-White adding eight points, eight boards, 10 assists and three steals.

Call and response ??

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Woods, Wizards end championship defence of Flames

Courtney Woods produced an MVP calibre performance on Saturday night to lead the regular season champion Northside Wizards to the 65-60 win at home to the Townsville Flames.

The Wizards played host to the Flames at Northside Indoor Sports Centre on the back of finishing the regular season in top spot at 16-3 while the defending champion Flames ended up eighth at 10-9 scarcely having a full strength line-up all season long.

Townsville did come out starting well to lead 15-11 by quarter-time but Northside was able to take charge in the second term outscoring the reigning champs 23 to 16 to head into the half-time break leading 34-31.

MVP doing MVP things ?

Courtney Woods has 2??2?? at half-time ?

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The Wizards did hold a slender lead right throughout the second half including by as much as seven points in the third quarter before ending up holding out the Flames for the five-point win.

The victory sees Northside book in a semi-final clash with the South West Metro Pirates next Saturday night while the championship defence of Townsville is over.

Fresh off being named MVP of the season in the NBL1 North, Courtney Woods produced 29 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals in the win for the Wizards.

AJ Johnson added 12 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and four steals with Lil Dart adding 11 points, six boards and two assists, and Nadeen Payne three points and 10 rebounds.

Alex Fowler produced 19 points, 11 rebounds and three assists for Townsville, Majella Carey 16 points, 14 boards and five assists, and Shaina Pacey 10 points and four steals. But without Steph Reid and Kate Gaze it was always an uphill battle.

What foot work by Alex Fowler! ?

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Ruef leads Logan into semi finals

Another huge performance from Mikaela Ruef was instrumental in the Logan Thunder overcoming Ariana Moorer and the Gold Coast Rollers for the 66-62 quarter-final win.

On the back of last year's undefeated regular season and grand final appearance, Logan finished the 2023 regular season in second position at 15-4 on an 11-game winning streak but Gold Coast was always going to be a tricky quarter-final opponent.

Logan got the better of the start with 15 points to eight in the opening quarter and the Thunder still led 29-21 after a defensive grind of an opening half.

Gold Coast hit back with 22 points to 17 in the third quarter but could never quite assume the lead despite getting within three points with 4:45 to play.

It was back to three when veteran point guard BJ Moyes hit a jumper 30 seconds later and again when Cate Reese hit two free-throws with just over a minute to play.

But Logan did enough to hold on for the four-point win with Ruef doing some cool work at the foul line to see the Thunder book in a semi-final spot at home to the Rockhampton Cyclones next Saturday.

Mikaela Ruef produced another 21 points, 26 rebounds and six assists for Logan despite only shooting 4/15 from the floor. But she made 13/14 at the free-throw line.

Mihaela Cann added 11 points, five assists, four rebounds and four steals, Chevannah Paalvast 11 points and six boards, and Ashley Taia 13 points and five rebounds.

Ariana Moorer did all she could to try and lift Gold Coast to the win with 22 points, 12 rebounds, five steals and two assists while also shooting just 6/15. She did make 7/10 at the foul line.

Cate Reese added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Rollers, BJ Moyes 14 points on 6/9 shooting, and Jasmine Hooper seven points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists.

 

Rockhampton too much for Darwin to advance

Sam Bowman, Lara McSpadden and Lauren Heard combined to lead the Rockhampton Cyclones into the semi finals with the 72-63 home quarter-final victory against the Darwin Salties.

The Cyclones ended the regular season in third position at 14-5 to earn the right to host the quarter-final against a Salties team who won their opening eight matches of 2023 but then limped into the finals at 11-8 having lost eight of their last 11 games.

Rockhampton then started well on Saturday night racing out to an 11-point lead and still being on top 19-10 by quarter-time.

The lead for the Cyclones did get out to as much as 13 points in both the second and third stanzas, but the Salties weren’t going down without a fight and put together a stunning 14-0 scoring streak to grab the lead.

However, Rockhampton hit back with 13 straight points of their own and from there the home team was able to go on to secure the nine-point victory.

The Cyclones advance now to a semi-final next Saturday night away to the Logan Thunder with a spot in the grand final at stake while the season of the Salties is over.

The big three of Rockhampton all had tremendous nights in the quarter-final with Sam Bowman finishing with 20 points and 21 rebounds.

Lara McSpadden added 18 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two blocks with Lauren Heard narrowly missing a triple-double with 12 points, 11 assists, nine rebounds and three steals.

Tia Hay also delivered 13 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Catherine MacGregor produced another standout performance despite the loss for Darwin with 30 points and five rebounds while knocking down 6/13 from three-point territory.

Claire-Maree Hunt added 13 points, eight boards and two steals, and Ruby Porter eight points, three steals and two rebounds.

Catherine MacGregor with the deadly step-back ??

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MEN

Cadee and Rollers overcome Noi and Rip City

The fuse was lit during the week by Kouat Noi for Saturday's grand final rematch and he didn’t disappoint but the Gold Coast Rollers still just had too much to beat his USC Rip City 99-96.

If you rewind 12 months and Gold Coast finished the regular season in the NBL1 North in top spot before taking on the Logan Thunder minus Jeremy Kendle, and had to fight for their lives to overcome a slow start to win.

The Rollers went on to win the championship from there beating Rip City in the grand final but last year's MVP Kouat Noi talked a big game before then going on to become an NBL championship winner at the Sydney Kings.

Little changed coming into Saturday night's quarter-final at Carrara Stadium.

Gold Coast once again finished in first place and had a fascinating battle with an eighth seed, this time a grand final rematch with Noi and his Rip City team.

During the week Noi made it no secret of his plans to beat Gold Coast and he sure backed the talk up with the way he started the game.

He had 15 points and nine rebounds on his own in the first quarter to help Rip City to the 29-26 lead by quarter-time.

By half-time, Noi had produced 25 points and 10 boards while hitting 4/6 from downtown. With help from 15 points and five assists from Verle Williams, USC were still leading 54-49 and there was a real chance of the upset.

Rip City were still seven points in front following a Corey Shervill three-pointer and Eric McAlister layup with 6:45 to play in the game. The challenge was right back on Gold Coast to respond and Cameron Thew started their charge with a put back dunk.

Todd Blanchfield then also threw one down after a turnover and then suddenly with four minutes on the clock, scores were tied with a Preston Le Gassick jumper for the reigning champions.

Rip City weren’t done yet with McAlister hitting a three, but Elijah Kamu answered with a huge shot, Le Gassick then hit a long ball and eventually Gold Coast held out for the 99-96 victory on quite the dramatic and eventful evening.

The Rollers now advance to the semi finals to play the South West Metro Pirates in a semi-final next Friday while the season is over for Rip City.

Fresh off being named the league's MVP and ahead of returning to the Adelaide 36ers for NBL24, Jason Cadee led Gold Coast with 25 points and 12 assists.

Todd Blanchfield added 22 points, nine rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks, Cameron Thew 17 points and eight boards, Elijah Kamu 13 points and six rebounds on a perfect 6/6 shooting, and Preston Le Gassick 11 points and five rebounds.

Kouat Noi ended the night with 35 points, 16 rebounds and two assists for Rip City with 5/10 three-point shooting while Verle Williams adding 17 points, six boards and five assists, Eric McAlister 15 points, six rebounds and five assists, and Corey Shervill 14 points, three boards, two assists and two blocks.

MVP Cadee makes his mark on Finals ?

2??5?? points, 1??2?? assists and a win for the reigning champs ?

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Sobey leads Force over Marlins despite Antonio's 42

Nathan Sobey ensured the Ipswich Force advanced to the semi finals helping his team overcome 42 points and 10 three-pointers from Jonah Antonio to beat the Cairns Marlins 99-92.

Ipswich earned the right to host the Saturday night quarter-final at JBS Stadium after finishing the regular season in third position ahead of taking on the sixth ranked Marlins.

The Force started well to open up a five-point lead by quarter-time and while Ipswich didn’t give up the lead the rest of the way, Cairns certainly did throw everything at it led by Antonio.

Jaylin Galloway took that to the NEXT-LEVEL ?

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The Ipswich lead did grow to seven points in the second quarter and 21 in the third while they still led by as much as 16 in the fourth stanza, but Cairns kept on coming.

A couple more late buckets to Antonio and then an offensive rebound and putback from Travis Drinnan with just under 30 seconds to play, and the Marlins had closed the gap to just five points.

They couldn’t quite get closer, though, with Ipswich securing the seven-point victory to now set up a semi-final next Saturday away to the Logan Thunder. The season is over for the Marlins.

Brisbane Bullets NBL superstar Nathan Sobey was superb in the win for Ipswich with 26 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals on the back of shooting 7/15 from the field and 9/9 at the foul line.

Jaylin Galloway added 18 points and four rebounds, Deng Deng 17 points, 11 boards and three assists, Kyrin Galloway 14 points and eight rebounds, Cameron Goldfinch 12 points and four boards, and Jason Ralph 10 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals.

Cairns Taipans sharpshooter Jonah Antonio did all he could to keep the Marlins' season alive with 42 points, nine rebounds and three assists while hitting 10/19 from three-point territory.

Tad Dufelmeier added 17 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for Cairns, Ky Stattmann 13 points and seven boards, and Lachlan Anderson 11 points, three steals, two rebounds and two assists. 

Fresh off Summer League and Jaylin Galloway is going UP ?

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Patterson leads Pirates over White-less Meteors

The South West Metro Pirates took full advantage of a Mackay Meteors team missing Isaac White on Saturday night for the dominant 94-72 home quarter-final victory.

The Pirates finished the regular season in fourth place to earn home court advantage for the quarter-final but the Meteors finished on the same 11-8 record and it was only the head-to-head record that decided who got to play at home.

The biggest news coming into the game, though, was the Meteors losing star guard Isaac White to a quad injury on the back of leading the league in scoring this season and being named to the All-First Team.

That robbed Mackay of their biggest weapon but still for the first half they did well to only trail by four points at quarter-time, and then lead 39-37 going into the main break.

However, South West Metro took charge in the second half to lead by as much as 10 points in the third quarter and then 22 in the fourth on the way to that 22-point victory.

The win means the Pirates set up a semi-final battle with the Gold Coast Rollers on Friday night while the season is over for the Meteors.

Former NBL All-First Team member Lamar Patterson put the Pirates on his back to lead them to the win with 32 points, three assists and two steals on the back of shooting 12/20 from the floor, 3/7 from downtown, 5/5 from the free-throw line and even throwing down a couple of jams.

Kai Woodfall added 14 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals for South West Metro, Ben Volkman 13 points, 12 boards and two blocks, and Brendan Teys 11 points and three assists.

Christian Maran top-scored for Mackay with 16 points, three rebounds and two assists with Tyler Williams contributing 15 points, five boards and five assists, Amarco Doyle 11 points and eight rebounds, and DJ Baptiste 10 points and seven boards.

Kai Woodfall from down-town ?

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Deng lifts Logan to win over Darwin

The Logan Thunder shook off a shaky last couple of weeks of the regular season to capitalise on a second place finish to beat the Darwin Salties 81-66 in the quarter-final match up on Saturday night.

Logan did finish the regular season in second position but coming into the playoffs they had lost three of their previous five matches ahead of hosting the quarter-final against the Salties who ended up in seventh position having also lost two of their last three, and five of the last eight.

It was Majok Deng who came out on a mission on the back of being named to the All-First Team ahead of continuing his NBL career at the Tasmania JackJumpers.

With Deng leading the charge, Logan managed to open up a 25-16 advantage by quarter-time but Darwin stayed in touch after falling 13 points down in the second term to cut the half-time deficit to six.

However, it was the third quarter when the Thunder dominated outscoring the Salties 17 points to eight and that saw their lead grow to 20 points in the fourth period on the way to the eventual 15-point victory.

Logan will now play host to the Ipswich Force in a semi-final next Saturday night while the season is over for Darwin.

Majok Deng finished the night for Logan by delivering 26 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots on the back of shooting 7/18 from the floor, 2/4 from downtown and 10/11 at the foul line.

Boston Mazlin added 14 points and three rebounds for the Thunder, Shaun Bruce 13 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two blocks, Rasmus Bach 11 points and 10 boards, and Mitch Young 10 points and eight rebounds.

Deba George delivered 15 points, four rebounds and two steals for Darwin with Deng Riak finishing with 13 points and eight boards, Makuach Maluach 13 points and six rebounds, and Viliami Foketi nine points, five boards and two steals.