NBL1 North Recap | Saturday Round 9

Lulu Twidale helped the South West Metro Pirates overcome Elin Gustavsson's huge NBL1 North night for the Southern Districts Spartans while Mikaela Ruef again dominated for the Logan Thunder, and Jonathan Janssen, Shaun Bruce, Jason Cadee, Lachie Dent and Isaac White were among the men to shine.

Round 9's Saturday night women's results saw the Northside Wizards beat the Sunshine Coast Phoenix 108-68 while the Logan Thunder downed the Ipswich Force 83-71, Gold Coast Rollers defeat the Red City Roar 87-49, and North Gold Coast Seahawks down the Brisbane Capitals 74-62.

The South West Metro Pirates also beat the Southern Districts Spartans 68-67 while the Cairns Dolphins defeated the Mackay Meteorettes 82-73, and the Darwin Salties won 86-75 over USC Rip City.

The men's contests then saw the Phoenix beat the Wizards 93-86, the Thunder defeat the Force 104-80, the Rollers down the Roar 86-60, the Capitals prevail 102-82 against the Seahawks, the Pirates beat the Spartans 106-83, the Meteors down the Cairns Marlins 107-76, and Darwin defeat Rip City 11-101.

NBL1 NORTH RECAP | ROUND 9 FRIDAY

WOMEN

Wizards beat Phoenix to remain perfect on season

The Northside Wizards maintained their perfect record this NBL1 North season with Lil Dart and Courtney Woods combining for 53 points in the eventual 108-68 home win against the Sunshine Coast Phoenix.

The Wizards put their perfect record on the line hosting the one-win Phoenix and Northside worked on top in the opening quarter and continued to build on it throughout the evening.

Northside managed to lead by nine points at quarter-time before extending that to 23 at half-time on the back of 26 points to 12 in the second term.

The Wizards also outscored the Phoenix 51 points to 31 in the second half to end up winning by 40 to improve to a perfect 10-0 on the season. Sunshine Coast is now 1-8 having lost six in-a-row.

Lil Dart finished the evening with 27 points, six rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocks for the Wizards while hitting 5/8 from three-point range with Courtney Woods adding 26 points and eight boards on 9/15 shooting from the field and 8/8 from the stripe.

Kelsey McDermott contributed 14 points, four rebounds and three assists, AJ Johnson 13 points and 10 boards, Alice O'Driscoll 11 points, six rebounds and four assists, and Nadeen Payne nine points, eight boards and two blocked shots.

Amy Browne ended up with 13 points for Sunshine Coast with 3/6 three-point shooting while Alex Wittinger contributed 12 points and 14 rebounds, Kendell Heremaia 12 points, and Kathleen MacLeod seven points, 10 assists and eight boards.

Ruef puts up 28/25 in another win for Logan

Momentum continues to build with the Logan Thunder as they scored an 83-71 win over the Ipswich Force with Mikaela Ruef again proving unstoppable.

It's no surprise that last year's regular season champions have looked a different outfit since the return of Ruef after her instrumental role in the Townsville Fire winning the WNBL championship.

That was again the case on Saturday on the road to Ipswich where the home team battled hard, but with Ruef leading the way, the Thunder proved to be just too strong in the finish.

Logan ended up leading by two points at quarter-time before stretching the advantage to five at half-time and then with another 19 points to 12 in the fourth period, they would go on to win by 12.

The victory improves the Thunder to a 7-4 record with three straight victories while Ipswich has lost its last two to be 3-7.

Despite shooting just 4/26 from three-point territory, Logan went 23/31 at the foul line on the way to the win while dominating the boards with 59 rebounds to just 29 from Ipswich along with 25 at the offensive end to seven.

Mikaela Ruef ultimately was the difference and she produced 28 points, 25 rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block for Logan on 10/19 field goal shooting and 8/8 at the free-throw line.

Ashley Taia added 15 points, three rebounds and three assists for the Thunder, Mikhaela Cann 14 points, six assists and five rebounds, Chevannah Paalvast 12 points, seven boards and three assists, and Ula Motuga 11 points and nine rebounds.

Maria Blazejewski is settling in nicely at Ipswich this season after playing in the NBL1 West with the East Perth Eagles in 2022. She finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Alison Gorrell added 15 points and 10 assists, Meg Essex 13 points, three rebounds and two blocks, and Nyah Morris nine points on 3/6 three-point shooting.

The block into the alley-oop finish ?

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Reese again fires in Gold Coast win over Red City

The Gold Coast Rollers inflicted some more pain on the winless Red City Roar with the 87-49 victory at Carrara Stadium.

Red City produced a spirited effort to open the round on Friday night in a 10-point loss to the North Gold Coast Seahawks before backing up on Saturday on the road to Gold Coast.

The Rollers opened the game on fire with 31 points to 18 in the opening quarter and they were able to continue to dominate from there. 

Gold Coast put up another 25 points to 10 in the second quarter, 16 to six in the third and went on to score the commanding 38-point win over a Roar team who looked exhausted after their tough hit out the night before.

Catherine Reese has been a significant addition to the Rollers and is a huge reason why they have now improved to a 6-5 record. She finished with 28 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block on 13/19 shooting.

Ariana Moorer added 13 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and two steals for Gold Coast, Carla Drennan 11 points with 3/4 three-point shooting, and BJ Moyes seven points, two assists and two steals as the former WNBL point guard settles back at Gold Coast after several years out west.

Donica Cosby couldn’t quite back up her huge performance from the previous night for Red City with just the 10 points on 4/15 shooting while fellow new arrival Angela Beadle had 11 points and eight rebounds against the team she played with last season.

Lilly Rotunno also had nine points, five assists and four rebounds for the Roar.

Seahawks make it a double win weekend

The North Gold Coast Seahawks gave themselves the perfect weekend to be right back in the NBL1 North playoff hunt with a dominant second half to beat the Brisbane Capitals 74-62.

The Seahawks opened Round 9 on Friday night beating the Red City Roar and were backing it up against the Caps who were on a three-game losing streak on Saturday at Auchenflower Stadium.

It was a tight contest throughout the first half with scores level at quarter-time and the Capitals going into the half-time break on top 38-37.

However, it was all the Seahawks throughout the second half as they outscored Brisbane 37 points to 24 which saw them win by 12 and make it a double win weekend.

As a result, North Gold Coast improves to a 5-5 record on the season with Brisbane now also 5-5 having lost their past four matches.

Alexa Held had another standout performance for the Seahawks finishing with 24 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals.

Erin Riley added 17 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals, Bionca Dunham 13 points, nine boards and two blocks, and Carly Remmos 10 points and six rebounds.

Steph Collins battled hard for Brisbane to finish with 17 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and two steals with Hilary Fuller adding 12 points, seven boards and two steals, Tyla King-Paul 11 points, and Anna Cameron 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Twidale the hero as Pirates overcome Gustavsson's huge night

The South West Metro Pirates overcame an 11-point second half deficit to snatch the 68-67 win late over the Southern Districts Spartans thanks to two free-throws from Lulu Twidale.

Both teams came into the contest on impressive winning streaks setting the stage for what shaped as a fascinating match up, and it certainly didn’t disappoint at Hibiscus Sports Stadium.

South West Metro made a flying start and led by 10 points in the early stages but Southern Districts soon worked on top and would lead 21-18 by the end of the first quarter.

The Spartans maintained their advantage for much of the rest of the contest including leading by as much as 11 points in the third quarter, and still by six with four minutes to play after a putback finish from Emily Preston.

However, things really dried up for the Spartans over the last four minutes as they missed dearly Maddy Allen who was off the court with an apparent knee injury.

The Pirates would outscore the Spartans nine points to two the rest of the way and making your free-throws proved critical down the stretch.

South West Metro decided to send Jess McDowell-White to the line to avoid the Spartans running down too much of the clock, but she missed both and gave the Pirates the chance with Southern Districts just leading by one.

With the shot clock off, Lulu Twidale made a bit of a rushed drive and attempt under the basket, but when she got fouled on the offensive rebound, she had the game in her hands at the line.

Twidale hit both free-throws to give the Pirates the one-point lead and they would win by that with Alice Dart's corner three not falling up the other end for the Spartans.

Maddy Rocci ended the contest with 19 points, nine rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks for South West Metro with Leah Scott adding 19 points, 10 boards and four steals, and Hannah Young 13 points and four rebounds while hitting 4/8 from three-point territory.

Despite the loss, Elin Gustavsson delivered a remarkable performance for Southern Districts made up of 30 points, 23 rebounds, two assists and two blocks on 10/20 shooting from the field, 3/6 from downtown and 7/8 at the foul line.

Maddy Allen produced 17 points, nine assists, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks before hurting her knee with Jess McDowell-White contributing nine points, two rebounds and two assists.

Coleman fires Cairns to win over Mackay

Jennifer Coleman made an immediate impact in her NBL1 North debut leading the Cairns Dolphins to an 82-73 road win against the Mackay Meteorettes.

The Dolphins hadn’t played since beating Mackay at home two weeks ago by 22 points while since then the Meteorettes lost twice to the Darwin Salties to set up Saturday night's clash at Mackay Basketball Stadium.

The Dolphins unveiled new import Coleman and started well with 24 points to 18 in the first quarter. Cairns would stretch their lead to as much as 18 points in the fourth quarter before ending up securing the nine-point victory.

The win improves Cairns to a 5-5 record on the season while Mackay is now 2-9 having lost five in-a-row.

Jennifer Coleman made her first appearance for Cairns having arrived during the week and she delivered 20 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals.

Leichan Williams delivered 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Dolphins, Teyahna Bond 17 points and five boards, Taylor Mole 17 points and five rebounds, and Shaneice Swain nine points, four boards and two assists.

Brittany Reeves had a commanding performance despite the loss for Mackay with 23 points, 16 rebounds and two steals.

Denesha Bobongie also had 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists, Ellie Collins 10 points, and Davida Dale seven points, nine rebounds, seven assists and five steals.

Bollmann shines as Salties get back to winning

The Darwin Salties returned home and bounced back from their first loss of the NBL1 North season to beat USC Rip City 86-75 on Saturday night.

The Salties suffered their first loss of the season last Saturday night on the road to the Rockhampton Cyclones while Rip City arrived in the Top End on a five-game losing skid.

Determined to bounce back from that defeat, Darwin started well with 28 points to 20 in the opening period. Another 24 points to 14 in the second term and the Salties were in control 52-34 at half-time.

Darwin ended up winning by 11 points to improve to a 9-1 record on the season and remaining unbeaten on their home floor in 2023. Rip City is now 2-7 having lost their past six matches.

Catherine MacGregor led the charge for the Salties with 20 points and three steals with Erin Bollmann outstanding and going ever so close to a triple-double with 16 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds and two steals.

Chelsea Brook added 14 points and nine rebounds, Ruby Porter 12 points, six assists, four boards and two steals, and Tsubasa Nisbet 10 points and five rebounds.

Despite the loss, Carlie Smith put up 26 points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists for Rip City with Steph Bairstow contributing 19 points and nine boards, Megan Mullings 12 points and seven rebounds, and N'dea Flye 10 points, 13 boards, four assists and three steals.

MEN

Janssen leads Phoenix road win over Wizards

Jonathan Janssen was outstanding in the Sunshine Coast Phoenix scoring a strong 93-86 victory against the Northside Wizards on Saturday night.

Sunshine Coast came into the contest knocking on the door of the top eight while Northside was in fourth position, and the Phoenix started well away from home with 31 points to 26 in the opening period.

Sunshine Coast maintained the lead the rest of the way and even extended it to as much as 13 points in the fourth quarter before securing the seven-point road win.

The victory improves the Phoenix to a 5-4 record on the season while the Wizards are now 6-4 with the defeat.

Jonathan Janssen put together a standout performance in the win for Sunshine Coast with 24 points, nine rebounds and two assists on the back of 10/14 shooting from the floor and 4/5 from three-point territory.

Jamaal Robateau contributed 21 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists for the Phoenix, Mason Bragg 19 points, five boards and five assists, and Kiran Shastri 12 points and two rebounds.

Perth Wildcats NBL guard Kyle Zunic delivered 27 points, 10 assists and four rebounds for the Wizards while Cameron Healy produced 21 points and three assists, Lual Diing 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Andrew White III 12 points, three boards, three assists and two steals.

Lual Diing explodes for the jam ?

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Bruce leads Logan to big win over Ipswich

The league-leading Logan Thunder made quite the statement on Saturday night with the 104-80 victory away to the Ipswich Force.

Ipswich did start the season with six straight victories but had lost two of the past three coming into Saturday night's home clash with Logan who came into Round 9 on top of the NBL1 North.

Even with Majok Deng not hitting the floor for Logan to continue his hot recent form, the visitors started well with 27 points to 20 in the opening quarter.

Jean Morel PINNED it on Jaylin Galloway ?

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The Thunder continued to pull away by scoring 24 consecutive points to lead by 15 in the second quarter and to be on top 51-38 at the half-time break.

Logan kept on dominating in the second half with the lead growing to 24 points in the third term, and 29 in the fourth before the Thunder scored the 24-point win.

The victory improves Logan to a 10-1 record having won nine straight to remain in top spot in the NBL1 North. Ipswich now slips to 7-3 having lost three of the past four.

Fresh off his role in the Sydney Kings NBL championship, Shaun Bruce continues to shine for Logan and put together 24 points, eight assists and four rebounds.

Mitch Young also put up 19 points and 11 rebounds in a commanding performance from the former NBL centre with Boston Mazlin contributing 17 points and four assists on shooting 4/9 from downtown.

Tom Howard also had 14 points and 11 rebounds for Logan, Elijah Puna 13 points and three boards, and Tyrone Fui 13 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Cameron Goldfinch finished with 23 points, eight rebounds and three assists for Ipswich, Nathan Sobey 17 points, 10 boards and seven assists, and Jason Ralph 14 points, four steals, three rebounds and two assists.

Jaylin Galloway cleans up the mess! ??

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Cadee leads Rollers to overpowering Roar

The job was always ahead of the Red City Roar and the defending champion Gold Coast Rollers overpowered them in the second half on the way to the 86-60 victory.

Red City put up a competitive showing on Friday night to open the round in an eventual 36-point loss to the North Gold Coast Seahawks that only really blew out in the fourth quarter.

The Roar were without Nelson Larkins, Javaan Mumtaz and Kane Bishop with that trio still missing for Saturday's trip to Carrara Stadium, but they did well to stick with Gold Coast for the first half.

Red City led by a point at quarter-time before Gold Coast was only narrowly leading 36-33 at the main break.

The Rollers did take over in the second half, though, with the defending champions outscoring the Roar 50 points to 27 to end up winning by 26.

The victory is an eighth in-a-row for Gold Coast as they improve to a 9-2 record while Red City has now lost six straight to slip to 2-8.

Gold Coast captain Jason Cadee continued his standout form with another 22 points, nine assists, five rebounds and three steals while nailing 4/10 from three-point range.

Todd Blanchfield added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Rollers, Preston Le Gassick 12 points and five boards, TJ Diop eight points and nine rebounds, and Jaryd Eustace eight points, five boards and two assists.

Jaylen Key finished with 21 points, 15 rebounds and two assists for Red City with Mitch Poulain contributing 13 points and seven boards, and Alec Godinet 12 points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals.

Dent sparks Caps to big win over Seahawks

The Brisbane Capitals produced their best performance of the NBL1 North season to beat the North Gold Coast Seahawks 102-82.

The Seahawks arrived at Auchenflower Stadium on the back of beating the Red City Roar to open the round on Friday night, but it was the Caps who came out on a mission on Saturday to score their second win of the season.

The Capitals put up 26 points to 15 in the opening quarter and then extended the lead further with another 27 points to 15 in the second term to head into half-time leading the Seahawks 53-30.

From there, Brisbane cruised to the eventual 20-point victory to score a second win of the season and snap a three-game losing slide. The Seahawks split their double-header weekend to now sit at 5-5.

Lachie Dent was tremendous leading the Capitals to the win with the Illawarra Hawks NBL guard delivering 26 points, nine assists, three steals and two rebounds.

James Moors added 19 points and three assists for Brisbane, Malok Majak 12 points and 13 rebounds, Geordan Papacostas 12 points and seven boards, and Trevor Lakes 11 points, four rebounds and two steals.

Josh Duach kept his hot form going for North Gold Coast from Friday night with another 24 points on 4/8 three-point shooting.

David Gurney also had 13 points and four rebounds for the Seahawks, Biwali Bayles 12 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Majok Majok 11 points and 14 rebounds.

Teys fires Pirates to commanding win over Spartans

A big night from former Adelaide 36ers captain Brendan Teys has lifted the South West Metro Pirates to the 106-83 home victory against the Southern Districts Spartans.

Both teams are locked in the logjam of teams around the middle of the NBL1 North table heightening the stakes in the match up, and it was the Spartans away from home who started the better to lead 26-23 by quarter-time.

And-1?? for Roman Siulepa ?

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The Pirates turned things around in the second quarter with 26 points to 20 to go into the half-time break leading 49-46.

South West Metro then continued to pull further away throughout the second half where they outscored Southern Districts 57 points to 37.

That saw the Pirates score the 23-point victory to improve to a 6-5 record with consecutive wins while the Spartans are now 5-7 with back-to-back defeats.

Brendan Teys was instrumental in the win for South West Metro finishing the evening with 26 points, six assists, three steals and two rebounds while shooting 12/21 from the floor.

Roman Siulepa also delivered 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists for the Pirates, Kai Woodfall 17 points, seven boards and five assists, Chris Cedar 15 points, and Ben Volkman 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.

New Cairns Taipans NBL signing Akoldah Gak produced 24 points and eight rebounds on 11/17 shooting for the Spartans with Koen Sapwell putting up 21 points, four assists, three boards and three steals, Fabijan Krslovic nine points, five boards and four assists, and Kian Dennis nine points, five assists and four rebounds.

Roman Siulepa is a menace ?

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White lifts Mackay to win at home to Cairns

The Mackay Meteors are beginning to build some momentum again with Isaac White dominant again in Saturday night's 107-76 home victory against the Cairns Marlins.

Mackay opened the NBL1 North season winning its first five matches before then losing four straight and returning to the winner's list last Friday night at home to the Darwin Salties.

They were playing host to a Cairns team who did beat them two weeks ago but it didn’t take the Meteors long to stamp their authority on Saturday night's match up.

Mackay put up 34 points to 14 in the first quarter and they were never headed from there going on to lead by 26 points at half-time, 27 at three quarter-time and then scoring the eventual 31-point win.

The victory improves the Meteors to a 7-4 record on the season with the Marlins now 4-6.

Brisbane Bullets NBL signing Isaac White continued his MVP level form for Mackay this season with another 33 points, 11 assists, six rebounds and two steals.

Tyler Williams also had 23 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals for the Meteors, Shane Temara 14 points and six rebounds, Amarco Doyle 11 points and five boards, and Isaiah Lee 10 points, six rebounds and two assists.

Tad Dufelmeier finished the game with 20 points, seven assists and four rebounds for Cairns with Lachlan Anderson contributing 19 points and four boards, and Ky Stattmann 13 points, four rebounds and two assists..

Maluach inspires Salties to home win over Rip City

The Darwin Salties bounced back from losing their past two matches to beat USC Rip City 113-101 at home on Saturday night.

Darwin was back home on the back of losing both games on the road last weekend to Mackay and Rockhampton to play host to a Rip City team attempting to build on a win last week against the Southern Districts Spartans.

The Salties started well on Saturday night with 31 points to 24 in the first quarter but Rip City hit back in the second period to mean Darwin was just clinging to a 54-53 advantage.

Darwin was able to take over in the second half with 30 points to 16 in the third term and then the lead got out to as much as 24 in the fourth quarter before the home team scored the 12-point win.

The Salties improve to a 6-4 record as a result of the win while Rip City is now 4-5 following the defeat.

Makuach Maluach produced a standout performance in the win for Darwin with 29 points and 11 rebounds on 13/22 shooting from the floor.

Deba George contributed 21 points, six assists and four rebounds for the Salties, and Sean Macdonald 20 points, four boards, four assists and two steals.

Jerron Jamerson added 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds, Deng Riak 13 points, 11 boards and four assists, and Viliami Foketi 11 points and three rebounds.