North Recap | Round 9 Friday

Image credit: @fotolamalan

Friday night in the NBL1 North featured Beyonce Bea scoring 33 points in a win for the South West Metro Pirates while Lamar Patterson delivered 45 for the Ipswich Force.

NORTH RECAP | ROUND 8 SATURDAY

WOMEN

South West Metro Pirates (89) defeated Townsville Flames (68)

Beyonce Bea put up 33 points and 14 rebounds to lead the South West Metro Pirates to the 89-68 home win over the Townsville Flames.

The Pirates were back on their home floor at Hibiscus Sports Stadium looking for a third consecutive win after six straight losses to open the season as they hosted a Townsville team fresh off a win against the Northside Wizards.

It was a flying start from South West Metro with an early 12-0 run and then opening up an 11-point lead as a result before going into quarter-time with the 24-15 advantage.

The Pirates did get back out to an 11-point edge in the second term but Townsville hit back with seven straight points of their own and were able to cut the South Metro lead back to 41-37 at the half-time break.

It was then a blistering third quarter display from the Pirates with 32 points on the back of shooting 12/16 from the floor and 4/5 from downtown. They also held the Flames to 18 points on 6/20 shooting on the back of going on a 20-0 scoring run.

That lead got out to 24 points in the fourth quarter too before South West Metro went on to record the 21-point victory thanks to shooting 52 per cent from the field to 31 from Townsville, and making 7/15 from three opposed to 8/35.

The win improves the Pirates to a 3-6 record with three straight wins with Beyonce Bea playing a starring role with 33 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots on 13/16 field goal shooting and 7/7 foul shooting.

Townsville are now 4-6 with the defeat ahead of also facing the Gold Coast Rollers on Saturday with Tayla Dalton finishing with 23 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Chailee Ward also had 13 points and two steals for the Flames despite shooting 4/20 from the floor with Mia Murray contributing 13 points, four rebounds and two assists, and Sam Bowman eight points, 10 boards and five assists.

SOUTH WEST METRO PIRATES 89 (Bea 33, Hegvold 10, Corke 9)

TOWNSVILLE FLAMES 68 (Dalton 23, Ward 13, Murray 13)

Mackay Meteorettes (95) defeated Ipswich Force (73)

The Mackay Meteorettes delivered another dominant home showing to keep pace with the top two teams in the NBL1 North with the 95-73 victory against the Ipswich Force.

The Meteorettes were back home at Mackay Basketball Stadium attempting to rebound from last Saturday's loss on the road to the Southern Districts Spartans while Ipswich arrived also off a loss to Logan Thunder.

Mackay managed to open up a 10-point lead in the first quarter before still being on top 24-17 by quarter-time.

Even though the Meteorettes did lead by as much as 12 in the second frame, Ipswich stayed in touch and had pulled that lead for Mackay back to 47-40 at the half-time break with both teams combining to shoot 2/18 from behind the three-point arc.

Mackay then blew the game open in the third quarter by going on a 15-0 scoring run and ending up outscoring the Force 26 points to 10 and then leading 73-50 by three quarter-time to have a match winning advantage.

Mackay turned that into the 22-point victory to improve to an 8-2 record on the season with Unique Thompson delivering another 23 points, 12 rebounds and three steals.

Eden Catip also put up 18 points with 3/6 three-point shooting while Emme Shearer contributed 15 points, four assists and two steals, Amari Robinson 10 points, five rebounds and three assists, Nikita Van Wyk nine points and seven rebounds, and Cheyenne Bobongie seven points, five assists, three boards and two steals.

Ipswich slip to a 3-6 record with the defeat ahead of taking on the defending champion Rockhampton Cyclones Saturday night.

Kahlaijah Dean finished with 18 points, four assists and two rebounds, Olivia West 13 points and two assists, and Elissa Brett 10 points, seven boards and three assists.

MACKAY METEORETTES 95 (Thompson 23, Catip 18, Shearer 15)

IPSWICH FORCE 73 (Dean 18, West 13, Brett 10)

MEN

South West Metro Pirates (86) defeated Townsville Heat (76)

After giving up an eight-point fourth quarter lead, the South West Metro Pirates again responded with the last eight points of the night to defeat the Townsville Heat 86-76.

With both teams sitting out side the top six and both coming off defeats, it was a crucial game at Hibiscus Sports Stadium in the context of the season for both teams.

The Pirates turned an early four-point deficit into an eight-point lead in the first quarter before the home team was still on top 20-15 by quarter-time.

That turned into an 11-point lead for South West Metro in the second period and by half-time they were on top 47-37 having shot on the back of making 19 shots to 15 from Townsville with both teams taking 42 attempts.

The Heat had managed to get the deficit back to five points heading into the fourth quarter before the Pirates were back up eight with Lachlan Anderson knocking down a three ball with 6:45 to play.

That's when Townsville made their move away from home starting with a triple from Grant Teichmann and when he hit another with 3:45 to play, the scores were all square.

Richad Peachey then put the Heat in front and they had all the momentum, but the Pirates were able to turn things back their way once more starting with a three-pointer from Dragan Stajic.

Then after Kuany Kuany scored for Townsville to bring it back to a two-point ball game with a minute to go, South West Metro scored the only eight points in the final minute beginning with one from downtown from Lachlan Anderson.

From there the Pirates secured the 10-point win thanks to scoring the last eight points to improve to a 3-6 record on the season ahead of an away clash with the second placed Brisbane Capitals on Saturday.

Lachlan Anderson delivered 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists on 5/10 three-point shooting for South West Metro with Jarred Bairstow adding 18 points, 13 boards, two assists and two blocked shots.

Junior Madut also had 13 points and two assists, Kai Woodfall 13 points and six rebounds, and Dragan Stajic 11 points and 12 assists.

Townsville are now 4-6 for the season ahead of taking on the Gold Coast Rollers on Saturday night with Richard Peachey producing 17 points and six rebounds.

Grant Teichmann knocked down 4/9 from downtown for 14 points, six rebounds and six assists while Matthew Rees contributed 14 points, 10 boards and three assists, and Kuany Kuany 13 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

SOUTH WEST METRO PIRATES 86 (Anderson 21, Bairstow 18, Woodfall 13, Madut 13)

TOWNSVILLE HEAT 76 (Peachey 17, Teichmann 14, Rees 14)

Mackay Meteors (86) lost to Ipswich Force (98)

It was a battle of the last two NBL1 North championship winners and it was the 2023 victors Ipswich Force prevailing 98-86 on the road against the Mackay Meteors on the back of 45 points from Lamar Patterson.

The defending champion Meteors were back home at Mackay Basketball Stadium and were attempting to bounce back from a loss to the Southern Districts Spartans while the Force arrived to start their road double trying to rebound from a defeat at the hands of Logan Thunder.

Mackay were able to open up a seven-point lead during the first quarter but Ipswich hit back with a 7-0 run of their own and then ended up leading 28-26 by the end of the opening 10 minutes.

Ipswich then ended up scoring 11 straight points during the second term to go into the half-time interval with the 53-43 lead with both teams having good offensive display with the Force shooting 20/39 and the Meteors 20/30, but those extra Ipswich attempts were the difference.

That Ipswich lead got out to 14 points in the third quarter and then 15 in the fourth with Lamar Patterson proving the difference between the two teams as the visitors went on to score the 12-point victory.

It's the perfect start to the road double for the Force ahead of taking on the Rockhampton Rockets on Saturday as they improve to a 5-4 record with Patterson brilliant with 45 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and four steals.

He did that on shooting 13/21 from the field, 5/8 from three-point territory and a perfect 14/14 at the foul line.

Will Mahoney added 18 points and two rebounds for Ipswich, Kane Bishop 13 points, six boards and four assists, and Ngor Nai nine points and three rebounds.

Mackay have now lost back-to-back games as defending champs to now sit at 6-4 in their lone game of the weekend with Cameron Goldfinch finishing with 26 points on 10/14 field shooting and 5/7 from downtown.

Akol Mawein added 22 points and 10 rebounds, Manny Malou 16 points, 11 boards, three steals and two blocks, and Jaxon Brenchley 14 points, six rebounds and five assists.

MACKAY METEORS 86 (Goldfinch 26, Mawein 22, Malou 16)

IPSWICH FORCE 98 (Patterson 45, Mahoney 18, Bishop 13)