NBL1 North Recap | Sunday Round 13

Carlie Smith, Alex Wittinger, Elin Gustavsson and Koen Sapwell delivered match-winning Sunday NBL1 North performances while Lachie Dent hit the clutch free-throws, and Todd Blanchfield had 42 points and 19 rebounds in a remarkable Gold Coast Rollers clash with the Ipswich Force.

The three completed women's Round 13 matches on Sunday saw USC Rip City defeat the Brisbane Capitals 84-65 while the Sunshine Coast Phoenix downed the Red City Roar 81-73, and the Southern Districts Spartans defeated the North Gold Coast Seahawks 87-74.

Then in the men's fixtures, the Capitals beat Rip City 100-98, the Phoenix defeated the Roar 84-81, the Spartans downed the Seahawks 104-82, and the Rollers defeated the Force 115-110 in overtime.

NBL1 NORTH RECAP | SATURDAY ROUND 13

WOMEN

Smith fires as Rip City beat Capitals

Carlie Smith was a dominant force to help USC Rip City score a fourth win of the NBL1 North season on Sunday beating the Brisbane Capitals 84-65.

The Caps were back home at Auchenflower Stadium playing host to Rip City having lost to the Gold Coast Rollers on Saturday but they were without both leading scorers Mia Loyd and Abby Cubillo as they chased a win to stay in the playoff hunt.

With both teams coming off a Saturday loss with Rip City also losing a close one to the North Gold Coast Seahawks, it was the Caps despite missing their two stars who made the flying start.

Brisbane raced to a 12-point lead but were only three points up by quarter-time after Rip City strung together eight consecutive points.

Rip City kept that momentum going with 25 points to 20 in the second term to go into half-time leading 39-37.

USC pulled away further in the second half to eventually outscore the shorthanded Brisbane 45 points to 28 to end up scoring the 19-point victory.

The win improves Rip City to a 4-11 record on the season after splitting their weekend while Brisbane is now 8-8 having lost three in-a-row.

Carlie Smith produced a standout performance for Rip City with 31 points, seven rebounds, five steals and four assists on the back of shooting 11/22 from the field and 9/12 at the free-throw line.

Steph Bairstow added 18 points and five rebounds for USC, Megan Mullings 15 points, five boards, five steals, three assists and two blocks, and N'dea Flye nine points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Brisbane did what they could despite the absence of Cubillo and Loyd with Bronte Corke top-scoring with 19 points and three rebounds while knocking down 4/7 from beyond the arc.

Courtney Middap added 12 points, five assists and three rebounds, Steph Collins 12 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks, and Anna Cameron five points, 11 boards, five assists and two steals.

Wittinger leads Phoenix to double win weekend

The Sunshine Coast Phoenix guaranteed themselves their best weekend of the NBL1 North season beating Red City Roar 81-73 on Sunday.

The Phoenix were tremendous the previous evening beating the second placed South West Metro Pirates for just their second win of the season to snap a 10-game losing run as they took on Red City on Sunday at Paul Bancroft Centre.

It was the only game of the weekend for a Roar team still looking for their first win of the season but it was the Phoenix who started the better to race out to a 15-point edge and to still be leading 28-15 by quarter-time.

The lead for Sunshine Coast got out to as much as 16 points in the second period and they were still leading 44-35 by half-time.

The advantage was again back out to 16 points in the third term for the Phoenix but the Roar did fire back and even grabbed the lead briefly in the fourth stanza.

However, Sunshine Coast responded to score 12 consecutive points after being down three to be back up nine and to go on to win by eight and improve to 3-12 on the season. The Roar are now 0-15 despite another competitive showing.

Alex Wittinger continued her standout form for Sunshine Coast with another 28 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two steals on the back of shooting 12/21 from the floor and 4/4 from the free-throw line.

Kendell Heremaia added 21 points, three rebounds and three steals on shooting 5/11 from downtown with Kathleen MacLeod contributing 16 points and nine assists, and Nicola Handreck seven points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Donica Cosby did all she could to try and will Red City to a first win of the season with 27 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Angela Beadle added 15 points and five boards, Jaylen Cooper 10 points, five rebounds and three steals, and Lilly Rotunno nine points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and two steals.

Spartans keep rolling with win over Seahawks

There wasn’t quite any more heroics from the North Gold Coast Seahawks on Sunday with the Southern Districts Spartans enhancing their own top four prospects with the 87-84 road victory.

The Seahawks pulled off a terrific finish to beat USC Rip City in a thriller the previous night before coming home to Runaway Bay Stadium to take on the Spartans who were playing their only game of the weekend.

The Spartans started well too and were leading by 13 points already during the second quarter before a 10-0 run from the Seahawks brought the home team back into the contest, and cut Southern Districts' half-time lead to 49-45.

It then wasn’t until the last quarter when the Spartans pulled away for good to open up a 16-point advantage before going on to win by 13 and make it four consecutive wins to improve to an 11-5 record.

North Gold Coast is now 8-6 and clinging to a spot in the top eight after splitting their two games this weekend.

Southern Districts had six players scoring in double-digits with Elin Gustavsson leading the charge with 16 points, 16 rebounds and four assists.

Alice Dart added 15 points and two rebounds, Emily Preston 13 points, five boards and two assists, Jess McDowell-White 12 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, Ashleigh Karaitiana 12 points and two boards, and Natalie Taylor 11 points and six rebounds.

Lexie Held delivered another 28 points, five assists, three rebounds and three steals for the Seahawks with 13/15 at the free-throw line.

Erin Riley added 17 points, 11 rebounds and four assists, Charli Reece 11 points and three boards, and Emma Gandini five points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.

MEN

Dent's free-throws secure Caps win over Rip City

Illawarra Hawks guard Lachie Dent nailed the game winning three free throws to give the Brisbane Capitals the 100-98 victory at home to USC Rip City on Sunday.

Brisbane saw its five-match winning streak come to an end on Saturday night at the expense of the Gold Coast Rollers while Rip City defeated the North Gold Coast Seahawks on the back of 42 points from reigning MVP Kouat Noi.

That set the stage for Sunday's match up at Auchenflower Stadium with both teams attempting to break into the top eight and it turned out a tremendous contest.

Rip City were coming off the momentum of the night before and started strongly to already lead by 12 points at quarter-time.

The lead grew to 13 in the second term for USC as well but Brisbane fought back with 24 points to 17 for the quarter and by half-time, Rip City's lead was just 48-43.

There was plenty of twists to come and after Rip City went back up 11 with 7:30 to play after a bucket to Kouat Noi.

From there, Brisbane fired back beginning with a three-pointer from Dhieu Magier. Baskets to James Moors and Nick Stoddart then made it a two-point game and suddenly the Capitals were back in front with a three-point play to Moors.

That set up a dramatic finish and ultimately with time running out, the Caps had given the ball to Lachie Dent to try and make up the one-point deficit.

Matt Kenyon was switched onto him and when Dent rose up for a three-pointer, it was judged Kenyon clipped Dent's leg that did appear to stretch out from his body.

However, the call stood despite the protests from Rip City and Dent showed great composure to make all three foul shots, and it was enough to secure the two-point victory.

Nick Stoddart had a massive performance in the win for the Capitals with 32 points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals on 12/21 shooting from the floor, 4/8 from downtown and 4/5 from the free-throw line.

James Moors also produced 24 points, 16 rebounds and two assists for Brisbane, Lachie Dent 12 points, six assists, five boards and two steals, Matthew Johns 11 points and three rebounds, and Tim Soong eight points, seven boards, five assists and five steals.

Kouat Noi came up huge again for Rip City after 42 points the previous night with another 35 points, nine rebounds and two assists on shooting 10/18 from the field, 3/5 from beyond the three-point arc and 12/13 at the free-throw line.

Matt Kenyon added 19 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, Verle Williams 16 points, eight boards, four assists and three steals, and Louis Ilton seven points, four rebounds and three assists.

Louis Ilton got ? there for the block!

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Gold Coast win remarkable contest with Ipswich

With the star power on show for either team it should come as no surprise, but Ipswich and Gold Coast put on a stunning afternoon of basketball with the Rollers ending up prevailing 115-110 in overtime.

Considering the talent involved included Nathan Sobey, Jason Cadee, Jaylin Galloway, Deng Deng and Todd Blanchfield, and the makings were there of a scintillating match up.

It certainly didn’t disappoint at JBS Stadium with the two teams combining for 59 points in the first quarter with Ipswich leading 33-26.

The Force were on a mission to end the 12-game winning streak of the Rollers and backing up their own win the previous evening where they snapped the 12-game streak of the Logan Thunder.

Ipswich opened up a 19-point lead in the second quarter and were still on top against the defending champions 63-45 at the major break.

Gold Coast were always going to fire back and they did so in spectacular fashion in the third stanza with 33 points to 16 which was enough to set up a big finish.

Todd Blanchfield produced a monster performance for Gold Coast and put his team in front by a point with 15 seconds to play. Jason Cadee then extended that lead to two with a free-throw, but the Force still had time with a last possession.

Jaylin Galloway was fouled and made both to tie scores up, and that's where it stayed as time expired when Cadee miss a three on the buzzer.

Then in the extra period, three-point bombs from Blanchfield and Galloway gave Gold Coast a four-point lead in the final minute and the reigning champs went on to score the five-point victory.

The big guns sure came up huge all afternoon with Todd Blanchfield ending up with 42 points, 19 rebounds, two assists and two steals for Gold Coast on 13/28 shooting from the floor, 5/12 from downtown and 11/13 at the foul line.

Cameron Thew added 20 points and 15 rebounds, Jason Cadee 21 points, 12 assists and four boards, and Preston Le Gassick 19 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Jaylin Galloway produced 26 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists for Ipswich while hitting 4/7 from behind the three-point line.

Deng Deng also had 24 points, 14 rebounds and four assists, Nathan Sobey 24 points, four boards and two assists while hitting 7/12 from three-point land, and Jason Ralph 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Phoenix with big finish to overrun Roar

The Red City Roar looked on target to snap a 10-game losing streak at home on Sunday until the Sunshine Coast Phoenix produced a big finish to claim the 84-81 victory to make it a double win weekend.

The Roar were playing their only game of the round as they turned up to Paul Bancroft Centre to host a Phoenix team who were on the back of a terrific win against the South West Metro Pirates the night before.

Red City blew the game open in the second quarter on the back of a 14-0 scoring run to lead by as much as 11 points, and still being on top 49-40 at half-time.

That lead for the Roar blew out to 15 points in the third period and they were still leading by five with 3:30 to play on the back of a jumper from Jaylen Key.

From the moment Red City were leading 79-74, Sunshine Coast dug deep beginning with a three-pointer to Jamaal Robateau. Jonathan Janssen then converted a three-point play to put the Phoenix in front and Mason Bragg secured them the three-point win.

The victory improves the Phoenix to an 8-7 record on the season with the two wins this weekend while Red City are now 2-13 having lost 11 in-a-row.

Kiran Shastri produced 23 points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks for Sunshine Coast while hitting 4/8 from beyond the arc.

Jamaal Robateau added 19 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals while hitting 4/11 from downtown with Mason Bragg putting up 14 points, seven assists, four rebounds and two steals, and Jonathan Janssen 13 points, 15 rebounds and three assists.

Jaylen Key delivered 25 points, 11 rebounds and four assists for Red City on 12/15 shooting while Nelson Larkins contributed 12 points and five assists, Javaan Mumtaz 10 points and two steals, and Kane Bishop nine points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Sapwell leads Spartans to big win over Seahawks

Koen Sapwell continued his standout NBL1 North form leading the Southern Districts Spartans to a 104-82 road victory on Sunday against the North Gold Coast Seahawks.

The Spartans were playing their only game of the weekend in the NBL1 North while the Seahawks were fresh off a tough loss the night before to Kouat Noi and USC Rip City.

The Spartans came out determined to move closer to a playoff position and after leading by three points at quarter-time, they went on to put up 34 points to 16 in the second period before turning into half-time leading 55-34.

From there Southern Districts cruised to the eventual 22-point victory which sees them improve to an 8-8 record on the season while the Seahawks are now 7-7 with the two defeats this weekend. 

Koen Sapwell continues to fire and couldn’t do any more to try and earn an NBL contract for the upcoming season. He delivered another 36 points, four assists and three rebounds on Sunday on the back of shooting 13/22 from the field, 6/11 from three-point range, and 4/6 from the stripe.

He had plenty of support too from his Southern Districts teammates with Akoldah Gak adding 18 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three blocks, Alex Mudronja 17 points, six boards and four assists, Kian Dennis 16 points and six rebounds, and Fabijan Krslovic 12 points, 17 boards and five assists.

Wesley Harris delivered 28 points, nine rebounds and two assists for North Gold Coast while Aiden Krause contributed 15 points and five boards, Kody Stattmann 12 points and six rebounds, and Majok Majok 11 points, six boards, three blocks and two assists.

Kian Dennis didn't have to go that hard ?

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