NBL1 North Recap | Sunday Round 11

Lulu Twidale fired South West Metro Pirates to Sunday NBL1 North win before departing for college while Lexi Held had a remarkable 48 points in a stunning overtime win for the North Gold Coast Seahawks, and Koen Sapwell inspired the Southern Districts Spartans to overrun USC Rip City. 

There were three more matches on Sunday in the NBL1 North to close Round 11 with the women's results seeing the South West Metro Pirates beating the Red City Roar 82-74 while the North Gold Coast Seahawks beat the Darwin Salties 110-109, and the Southern Districts Spartans downed USC Rip City 65-64.

Then in the men's contests, the Pirates beat the Roar 91-78, the Seahawks defeated the Salties 98-82, and the Spartans beat Rip City 89-80.

NBL1 NORTH RECAP | SATURDAY ROUND 11

NBL1 NORTH RECAP | FRIDAY ROUND 11

WOMEN

Twidale bids farewell with match-winning performance

The Red City Roar continue to battle hard in search of that elusive first win of the NBL1 North season but it wasn’t to be on Sunday with the South West Metro Pirates just holding them out to win 82-74.

The Roar have been significantly more competitive since the additions of Donica Cosby and Angela Beadle and put in a strong showing before going down to the Brisbane Capitals on Saturday.

The Pirates came into Sunday's match up at Paul Bancroft Centre having moved into second spot beating Darwin.

Hayley McDowell-White from down town! ?

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That meant it was quite the daunting challenge ahead of the Roar in the hunt for that elusive first win but they started well to lead by as much as five points in the first quarter and to still be up 20-19 by the end of one.

However, the Pirates needed the win to stay in second place and responded in the second period with 29 points to 20 to head into the half-time break on top 48-40.

Even though South West never gave up the lead throughout the second half, Red City never gave up the fight and got back within just a point with three minutes to play when Lilly Rotunno scored.

However, from that point the Pirates responded strongly to score nine of the game's last 11 points to secure the eight-point win.

The victory improves South West Metro to an 11-3 record on the season to remain in second place while the Roar are 0-13 despite their improved competitiveness.

Lulu Twidale played her last game with the Pirates before she departs to join the University of California Golden Bears. She was brilliant as well with 33 points and two assists on 12/18 field goal shooting.

Maddy Rocci added another 21 points, six rebounds, six assists and five steals while Alana Fraser contributed 10 points and four boards, and Hannah Young six points and eight rebounds.

There were encouraging signs again for Red City with Donica Cosby putting up 18 points, four rebounds and four assists with Jaylen Cooper adding 16 points, three boards and two assists, Angela Beadle 11 points and five rebounds, and Lilly Rotunno 11 points, four boards and four assists.

Maddy Rocci controls the tempo ?

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Held puts up 48 in remarkable Seahawks OT win

What a remarkable Sunday afternoon contest it proved to be with the North Gold Coast Seahawks escaping with the one-point overtime win over the Darwin Salties with a 48-point performance from Lexi Held.

The Seahawks were home at Runaway Bay Stadium playing their only game of the weekend while the Salties were finishing their triple-header road trip after beating the Gold Coast Rollers on Friday and losing to the South West Metro Pirates on Saturday.

SCENES FOR THE SEAHAWKS ?

Their fourth win straight in an OT win at home to keep their Finals chances alive ?

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With North Gold Coast trying to break into the top eight and Darwin attempting to reclaim second position, the stakes were high for the match up too.

The Seahawks got off to the fast start against the understandably tired Salties with the fresh home team leading by 10 points in the opening period and by 15 in the second before the lead blew out to 22 in the third.

North Gold Coast was still leading by as much as 14 in the fourth and still by nine with 3:45 left on the back of a three-point bomb from Erin Riley.

However, the Salties found something remarkable despite it being their third game of the weekend. Darwin scored the last nine points of regulation to go from nine points down to tying scores up with Catherine MacGregor's free-throws sending the game into overtime.

Then in the extra period, it was two free-throws at the finish from Lexi Held to take her to 48 points in the game that ended up sealing the deal for the remarkable one-point victory in one of the games of the NBL1 North season.

The victory is a fourth in-a-row for the Seahawks who improve to a 7-5 record as a result while the Salties return home in third place at 10-4 with just one win out of the three games this weekend.

It was a remarkable performance from Lexi Held and she didn’t even start the game, but ended up playing 44 minutes when starter Tayla Sleaford was limited to just eight and-a-half.

4??8?? points on a Sunday ?

Alexa Held went OFF, dropping 8?? triples in an OT win against the Darwin Salties ?

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What Held produced was a match-winning display for the Seahawks consisting of 48 points, nine rebounds and three assists on 15/28 shooting from the floor, 8/14 three-point shooting and 10/14 free-throw shooting.

Erin Riley was tremendous for North Gold Coast too with 30 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists on 10/18 shooting with Emma Gandini contributing 10 points, seven boards, five assists and three steals.

Catherine MacGregor finished up top-scoring for Darwin with 27 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals with 5/14 three-point shooting.

Ruby Porter added 23 points, six assists, four steals and three rebounds, Chelsea Brook 17 points, nine boards, six assists and three steals, Skye Rees 14 points, three rebounds and three assists, and Tsubasa Nisbet 13 points and seven boards.

Erin Riley is clutch in OT ?

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Spartans hold out Rip City in another thriller

The Southern Districts Spartans have held out USC Rip City for a thrilling 65-64 home victory at home on Sunday afternoon.

Rip City went ever so close to snapping their losing run before a narrow loss to the unbeaten Northside Wizards the previous evening while the Spartans were back home for their only appearance of the weekend.

Southern Districts started well with the fresh legs to lead by as much as 11 points in the first quarter and to still be on top by six at quarter-time.

However, Rip City fired back in the second stanza to outscore the Spartans 20 points to 13 to take a 31-30 lead into the half-time break.

The Spartans turned the tide back their way once again in the third quarter to lead by as much as nine points, and they would be up by nine again in the fourth term.

Rip City weren’t going away, though, and by the time Liisa Ups made two free-throws with 11 seconds to go, the scores were all level again.

In the end, Ashleigh Karaitiana made one at the stripe for Southern Districts in a frantic finish and that proved enough to win the game for the Spartans who improve to a 9-5 record as a result.

It's a heartbreaking double loss weekend for Rip City who went so close against both the Wizards and Spartans. But they have now lost nine straight to be sitting at 2-9.

Jess McDowell-White finished the afternoon with 19 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two steals for Southern Districts on 5/11 three-point shooting.

Alice Dart added 13 points and three boards, and Elin Gustavsson nine points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Steph Bairstow ended up top-scoring for Rip City with 20 points and four rebounds with N'dea Flye contributing 17 points, 13 rebounds, four steals and three assists, and Megan Mullings 13 points and 10 boards.

MEN

Pirates make it back-to-back wins this weekend

The South West Metro Pirates made it a perfect weekend with the return of Lamar Patterson to back up a Saturday night win to beat the Red City Roar 91-78 on Sunday.

The Pirates bounced back from last week's 48-point defeat to the Brisbane Capitals to beat the Darwin Salties on Saturday night to take that confidence into Sunday's clash with Red City at Paul Bancroft Centre.

Roman Siulepa did it all today ?

1??1?? points, ? rebounds and the W -- in only 20 minutes ?

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The Roar were attempting to snap an eight-game losing run after going down to the Capitals as well the previous night, and it was the home team who started the better to lead by four at quarter-time.

However, South West Metro took charge in the second period with 26 points to 15 with the Pirates to end up leading 42-35 at the main break.

The Pirates scored another 28 points to 21 in the third period to put the result beyond doubt and then going on to win by 13 to improve to an 8-6 to remain solid in the top eight with the two wins this weekend.

The Roar have now lost nine in-a-row to sit on a 2-11 record on the season.

Lamar Patterson has been a welcome return this weekend for the Pirates and he put up 19 points and two steals in the win on Sunday.

Brendan Teys added 16 points and four assists, Jeremy McLaughlin 14 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals, Roman Siulepa 11 points and 10 boards, Zac Carter nine points and six rebounds, and Ben Volkman eight points and seven boards after his early shower on Saturday.

Chris Cedar also had another seven points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals for the Pirates.

Jaylen Key top-scored for Red City with 21 points and seven rebounds with Alec Godinet contributing 12 points and four assists, Javaan Mumtaz 11 points with 3/6 three-point shooting, and Kane Bishop 10 points and six rebounds.

How did Zach Carter pull that off? ?

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Seahawks send Salties home winless after triple-header

The fresh North Gold Coast Seahawks put the exhausted Darwin Salties on the back foot early on Sunday on the way to an eventual 98-82 victory.

The Seahawks were playing their only game of the weekend as they hosted a Salties team at Runaway Bay Stadium who had already played twice on the road in Round 11.

Darwin had lost twice already too against Gold Coast and South West Metro so the job was ahead of them to try and return to the Top End without a third successive road defeat.

The Seahawks started on fire in their first game of Round 11 opening up a 16-point advantage during the opening period before leading 33-18 by quarter-time.

North Gold Coast maintained that advantage the rest of the afternoon leading by as much as 20 points in the second stanza, and 26 in the fourth to end up winning by 16.

The victory improves the Seahawks to a 7-5 record on the season to break them into the top eight while the Salties have lost all three on the road this weekend to return home at 7-7.

Illawarra Hawks NBL development player Biwali Bayles had 24 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Seahawks with Majok Majok continuing his terrific form with 22 points and 17 rebounds on 10/14 shooting.

Wesley Harris added 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists, Josh Duach 14 points, three assists and two boards, and Aiden Krause seven points and 12 rebounds.

Makuach Maluach had racked up 64 points over the previous two nights on the road trip, and top-scored again for Darwin on Sunday with 17 points, 13 rebounds and three assists.

Deng Riak added 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Salties, Jerron Jamerson 14 points, five boards and two assists, Sean Macdonald 11 points, four assists and three rebounds, and Josh Spiers nine points and two assists.

Wesley Harris JAMS IT ?

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Sapwell stars as Spartans overrun Rip City

Koen Sapwell inspired the Southern Districts Spartans to a big finish to overrun USC Rip City for Sunday's 89-80 victory on their home court.

The Spartans were playing their only game of Round 11 in the NBL1 North with Rip City fresh off a thrilling win the previous night against the Northside Wizards with Kouat Noi hitting the clinching free-throws.

Akoldah Gak puts a lid on it ?

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Rip City started well to lead by as much as seven points in the opening period and to still be up by a point at quarter-time but the Spartans took control in the second stanza with 29 points to 15.

That saw Southern Districts open up a 12-point lead during the quarter before going into the half-time interval leading 45-33.

The rollercoaster contest continued in the second half though. After the Spartans went up 16, Rip City fired back including going on a 9-0 run to grab the lead once more just before three quarter-time.

USC would then lead by three early in the fourth term but Southern Districts took control once more including completing a 16-0 run to regain the lead, go up by as much as 14 and end up winning by nine.

The victory improves the Spartans to a 6-8 record on the season as they snap a three-game losing slide while Rip City is 5-7 after splitting their Round 11 matches.

Koen Sapwell produced a standout performance in the win for Southern Districts finishing with 36 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals on 13/23 shooting from the floor and 8/10 from the free-throw line.

Fabijan Krslovic also delivered 19 points, eight rebounds, six steals, two assists and two blocks, Akoldah Gak 10 points and nine boards, and Kian Dennis six points and 10 rebounds.

Kouat Noi finished with another 16 points, six rebounds and two assists for Rip City with Matt Kenyon producing 14 points, five boards, four assists and two steals.

But it was Brandon Wood who shone with 27 points, eight rebounds and two assists while hitting 5/10 from three-point range.

Anyone figured out how to guard Verle Williams?

Asking for a friend ?

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