North Recap | Round 8 Friday

Image credit: @highflyer_images

Cairns Dolphins and Northside Wizards men scored Friday NBL1 North wins as did both Mackay teams including the Meteors producing a huge comeback with Akol Mawein and Manny Malou combining for 54 points and nine threes.

NORTH RECAP | ROUND 7 SUNDAY

WOMEN

Cairns Dolphins (104) defeated Northside Wizards (65)

The Cairns Dolphins continued to build impressively this NBL1 North season with a dominant 104-65 home win against the Northside Wizards.

The Dolphins were fresh off handing the Southern Districts Spartans their first loss of the season ahead of hosting the Wizards at Trinity Ford Stadium who might have played in the last two grand finals, but were on a two-game losing slide to be outside the top six.

It was a tight opening to the contest with Cairns just leading 24-21 by quarter-time before the Dolphins pulled away in the second frame with 23 points to 23 on the back of scoring 11 consecutive points.

That saw Cairns go into half-time leading 47-34 and then it was even more of a domination from there including 33 points to 15 in the third term with that scoring streak turning to 21-0.

The Dolphins would end up leading by as much as 36 points in the third period and 42 in the fourth on the way to the eventual 39-point win with 47 per cent field goal shooting to 32, and taking an extra 10 field goal attempts having forced the Wizards into 22 turnovers.

Cairns now improve to a 6-3 record having won four straight with Teyahna Bond top-scoring once more with 20 points, seven assists and four steals on 8/12 field goal shooting and 3/6 from downtown.

Summah Evans added 19 points and seven rebounds for the Dolphins, Cayla George 18 points, 14 boards, six assists and four steals, Leichan Williams 15 points and seven rebounds, and Aimee Brett 15 points, four steals and three assists.

Northside have now lost three in-a-row to be 3-6 ahead of taking on the Townsville Flames also in Far North Queensland on Saturday night.

Cierra Walker finished with 21 points, six rebounds and there assists for the Wizards while Saskia Gunness added 17 points, 10 boards, two assists and two steals, and Alice O'Driscoll 11 points and two rebounds.

CAIRNS DOLPHINS 104 (Teyahna Bond 20, Evans 19, George 18)

NORTHSIDE WIZARDS 65 (Walker 21, Gunness 17, O'Driscoll 11)

Brisbane Capitals (55) lost to Mackay Meteorettes (64)

The Mackay Meteorettes joined the top two teams in the NBL1 North on 7-1 records with the 64-55 road win over a Brisbane Capitals team without Miela Sowah.

The Caps were back home at Auchenflower Stadium looking to consolidate their hold on a top six place after a win two weeks ago against the Rockhampton Cyclones, but they were without Sowah who is at the FIBA 3x3 World Cup in Mongolia with the Australian Gangurrus.

The Meteorettes arrived also fresh off beating the South West Metro Pirates with Mackay managing to lead 22-19 by the end of the first quarter, but the scoring did dry up the rest of the evening.

The two teams only combined for 23 points in the second quarter but the Meteorettes built on the lead with 14 points to nine after they shot 9/33 between them.

That saw Mackay leading 36-28 still by half-time and they maintained that advantage through the majority of the second half before securing the nine-point victory.

It wasn’t a great offensive night for either team with the Meteorettes shooting 39 per cent to the 34 from the Caps along a combined 8/29 from downtown, but Mackay got the win to improve to 7-1 on the season.

Monique Bobongie top-scored for Mackay with 14 points, nine assists, five rebounds and three steals with Unique Thompson providing 13 points, seven boards, four blocks and three steals.

Emme Shearer also had 11 points and seven rebounds, Amari Robinson 11 points and nine boards, and Nikita Van Wyk eight points.

Brisbane are now 3-5 following the loss with Ashley Arlen top-scoring with 20 points, nine rebounds and two assists.

Grace Ellis also contributed 15 points, 11 rebounds and three assists, and Alleah Hanson six points and six boards.

BRISBANE CAPITALS 55 (Arlen 20, Ellis 15, Hanson 6)

MACKAY METEORETTES 64 (M Bobongie 14, Thompson 13, Robinson 11, Shearer 11)

MEN

Cairns Marlins (91) lost to Northside Wizards (102)

The Northside Wizards produced a big finish away from home to come from behind at three quarter-time to score the 102-91 win over the Cairns Marlins.

The Marlins were attempting to snap their losing slide and get out of bottom spot in the NBL1 North when hosting the Wizards at Trinity Ford Stadium.

Northside started their double in Far North Queensland also looking to bounce back from a last up loss to the Sunshine Coast Phoenix, and by the end of the first quarter the Wizards narrowly led 23-20.

Cairns then produced a big second term with 32 points to 23 on the back of shooting 12/17 from the field opposed to the 11/27 from the Wizards which saw the home team leading 52-46 by half-time.

The Marlins were still leading by three at three quarter-time, but then it was all the Wizards in the final 10 minutes as they outscored Cairns 29 to 15.

The Marlins shot 8/15 from the field but it was getting to the line they really did the damage going 13/15 at the charity stripe in that last quarter on the way to the 11-point victory.

The win improves the Wizards to a 5-4 record on the season with the bounce back win ahead of taking on the Townsville Fire on Saturday night to close out the road trip.

Tyler Williams delivered another 22 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals for Northside despite going 1/12 from behind the three-point arc.

Nikau McCullough added 20 points, two rebounds and two steals, Durrell McDonald 20 points, seven assists, five boards and four steals, Jed Richardson 15 points and seven rebounds, and Josh Kunen 10 points, 11 boards, two assists and two steals.

Cairns are now 2-7 on the season to remain in bottom spot in their only appearance of Round 8 despite Damon Heuir finishing with 21 points, three assists and three steals.

Kian Dennis also produced 19 points, seven rebounds and two assists, Kody Stattmann 17 points, nine boards and seven assists, and Ky Stattmann 13 points, three rebounds and three assists.

CAIRNS MARLINS 91 (Heuir 21, Dennis 19, Kody Stattmann 17)

NORTHSIDE WIZARDS 102 (Williams 22, McDonald 20, McCullough 20)

Brisbane Capitals (92) lost to Mackay Meteors (103)

The defending champion Mackay Meteors came back from a 22-point deficit to outscore the Brisbane Capitals 56 points to 31 in the second half to score the 103-92 grand final rematch victory.

It is the first and only regular season meeting of the two teams in 2025 on the back of playing in last year's grand final series, but it was an especially different Mackay team without coach Joel Khalu along with Isaac White, Emmett Naar, Todd Blanchfield and Luca Yates.

The Capitals were on their home floor at Auchenflower and sitting in top spot in the NBL1 North having won their past six matches, and they started on fire against the Meteors with six three-pointers to zero in the first quarter to lead 33-17 by quarter-time.

That lead for the Caps got out to 22 points in the second quarter and even though Mackay put up 30 points in the term, it was still Brisbane leading 61-47 going into the half-time break.

The game underwent a dramatic transformation in the second half with Mackay completing a 14-0 scoring run to have turned that 14-point deficit at the break to grabbing the lead by three quarter-time.

The defending champions then went on with the job with Akol Mawein and Manny Malou the key pair in the win where the Meteors got to the foul line 32 times to 12 for the game.

Having trailed by 22 points in the second quarter, it was a dominant second half from Mackay on the way to the 11-point win to improve to a 6-2 record in their title defence.

Malou finished with 28 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists with 6/8 three-point shooting while Mawein delivered 26 points, nine boards, two assists and two blocks with a perfect 3/3 shooting from behind the arc.

Cameron Goldfinch provided 21 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals, Jaxon Brenchley 15 points on 3/5 shooting from deep, and Jerron Jamerson six points, four assists and three boards before he was forced off in the second half with a knee complaint.

Brisbane's six-game winning run comes to an end to see them now sit at 6-2 with reigning MVP Sam McDaniel delivering 29 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals with Uche Dibiamaka adding 20 points with 6/11 three-point shooting.

Geordan Papacostas provided 13 points with 5/6 field goal shooting, Cameron Thew 11 points and 14 rebounds, and Isaih Tueta 10 points, seven assists, four steals and three boards.

BRISBANE CAPITALS 92 (McDaniel 29, Dibiamaka 20, Papacostas 13)

MACKAY METEORS 103 (Malou 28, Mawein 26, Goldfinch 21)