Recap NBL1 East | Anzac Round Friday

Feature images via: James O'Donohue Photography

Tahlia Tupaea put up 37 points as the Penrith Panthers snapped their NBL1 East losing run on Friday with Ishmael Sanders hitting eight triples for 36 points as the Hills Hornets made it consecutive wins.

The Friday night women's contests saw the Bankstown Bruins beat the Inner West Bulls 84-51 while the Centre of Excellence defeated the Central Coast Crusaders 69-63, the Penrith Panthers won in overtime 84-72 over the Hills Hornets.

The men's match ups then saw the Bulls down the Bruins 77-63, the Crusaders beat the Centre of Excellence 85-80, and the Hornets prevail 109-78 against the Panthers.

RECAP NBL1 EAST | ROUND 4 ANZAC DAY

WOMEN

Bankstown Bruins (84) defeated Inner West Bulls (51)

The Bankstown Bruins got plenty of strong contributions on the way to their second win of the NBL1 East season, beating the Inner West Bulls 84-51.

Both teams came into the contest on Friday at Bankstown Basketball Stadium with just the one win to their names so far in 2024 heightening the stakes of the Round 4 match up.

On their home floor the Bruins came out strongly racing out to a 17-point lead in the opening term and then leading 25-8 after one.

That lead continued to grow the rest of the evening for Bankstown growing to 23 points in the second period, 36 in the third and then 38 in the fourth before they secured the 33-point victory to improve to 2-3 on the season.

Bankstown finished with five players scoring in double-figures with 10 players scoring altogether led by Azaleeah Oloapu finishing with 14 points, six rebounds and two steals on 6/10 shooting.

Britney Wright added 14 points, three rebounds and two steals, Kiahna-Davis-White 13 points and 11 boards, Violet Morrow 13 points, nine rebounds, five steals and two assists, and Abbey Vallance eight points and two assists.

Piath Gabriel top-scored for the now 1-6 Bulls with 16 points and nine rebounds while Margaret Robinson had 10 points and 14 boards, and Shiho Yamazaki seven points, six assists and three rebounds.

The Bruins are away to the Canberra Nationals on Sunday at 1pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Bulls next play away to the Norths Bears next Saturday.

BANKSTOWN BRUINS 84 (Oloapu 14, Wright 14, Morrow 13, Davis-White 13)

INNER WEST BULLS 51 (Gabriel 16, Robinson 10, Yamazaki 7)

Central Coast Crusaders (63) lost to Centre of Excellence (69)

The Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence finished strongly on the road to hand the Central Coast Crusaders their first loss of the 2024 season with the 69-63 victory.

The Crusaders were back home at Breakers Indoor Sports Stadium with a perfect 4-0 record to open the season up against a Centre of Excellence team who split their first two games last weekend.

Coming into the game in hot form to open 2024, Central Coast raced out to an early 12-point lead as well on the back of scoring 11 straight points.

They were still leading 25-15 by the end of one and the lead got out to 13 points in the second term, but the CoE fired back in the second term and had cut the deficit back to eight by the main break.

The Basketball Australia young guns then held Central Coast to just nine points in the third period and put up 18 themselves to grab the lead, and then CoE went on with the job for the eventual six-point victory.

Just the eight players suited up for the Centre of Excellence with Bonnie Deas top-scoring with 19 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Sienna Harvey added 18 points, four rebounds and four assists, Monique Bobongie nine points, eight boards, four assists and two steals, and Jade Crook eight points and nine rebounds.

It's the first loss of the season for the Crusaders with Leilani Mitchell putting up another 21 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Mikaela Dombkins had another 19 points, 17 rebounds and three assists with Jasmine Forcadilla contributing eight points, three boards and three assists, and Nicole Hutchins seven points and 12 rebounds.

The Crusaders back up to host the Maitland Mustangs on Saturday at 5pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. Earlier the CoE are away to the Hills Hornets at 3pm.

CENTRAL COAST CRUSADERS 63 (Mitchell 21, Dombkins 19, Forcadilla 8)

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 69 (Deas 19, Harvey 18, Bobongie 9)

Penrith Panthers (84) defeated Hills Hornets (72)

The Penrith Panthers are on the board in 2024 thanks to a huge 37-point performance from Tahlia Tupaea in the 84-72 overtime home win over the Hills Hornets.

The Panthers came into the contest at Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre having lost their opening four games of the season on the back of the last seven also of 2023 so were desperate to end that losing slide.

It was the Hornets who started the better, though to lead by as much as eight points in the first quarter and to still be on top 19-13 after one.

Penrith worked back into the contest in the second period and by half-time scores were all square at 34-34.

It was the turn of the Panthers to take control in the third term and the home team scored 15 consecutive points to open up a 13-point advantage, and that first win was within touching distance.

Penrith were still up 10 during the last quarter, but Hills weren’t done with yet and had the lead back thanks to a three-pointer from Rachel McLimore with just over a minute and-a-half remaining.

In the end, a couple of free-throws from Tahlia Tupaea had the Panthers back level and scores would stay tied at 69-69 at the end of regulation on the back of a shot clock violation from the Hornets, and then a missed shot at the buzzer from Tupaea.

But then in the extra period it was all the Panthers as they outscored the Hornets 15 points to three for the eventual 12-point win for their first NBL1 East victory since June 17 last year.

Tahlia Tupaea delivered an inspirational performance for Penrith in the drought breaking win with 37 points, six rebounds and four assists on 10/19 shooting from the field, 5/8 from three-point land and 12/14 at the foul line.

Chloe Williams added 17 points, 10 rebounds and three assists in the win for Penrith with Dominika Faber adding 10 points and four boards, Mia Heide 10 points and 12 rebounds, and Teagan Edwards six points, nine boards and two assists.

Emma Kary top-scored for the now 1-3 Hornets with 19 points, five rebounds and four assists with Lucy Corke contributing 19 points and three boards, and Meg Jefferson 14 points and five rebounds.

The Hornets will host the Centre of Excellence on Saturday at 3pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Panthers host the Newcastle Falcons at 5:30pm.

PENRITH PANTHERS 84 (Tupaea 37, Williams 17, Heide 10, Faber 10)

HILLS HORNETS 72 (Kary 19, Corke 19, Jefferson 14)

 

MEN

Bankstown Bruins (63) lost to Inner West Bulls (77)

The Inner West Bulls made it five straight wins and gave the Bankstown Bruins consecutive losses with the 77-63 road victory.

The Bulls arrived at Bankstown Basketball Stadium having won their past four games this NBL1 East season while the Bruins were back home and attempting to bounce back from their first defeat of 2024 at the hands of the Centre of Excellence.

It was a tight contest throughout the first half with the Bulls leading by just two points at quarter-time and then by six at the half-time break with no more than seven points separating the teams throughout the opening half.

It was in the third term that Inner West blew the game open completing a 12-0 scoring run and ending up outscoring Bankstown 25 points to 11 for the term to lead by as much as 21.

That lead got out to 23 points in the fourth frame with the Bulls ending up winning by 14 to improve to a 6-1 record with five straight wins on the season.

Alex Higgins-Titsha continued his impressive form to open the season for Inner West with 21 points, 17 rebounds and two blocked shots with 6/12 shooting from the floor and 8/11 at the foul line.

Jacob Ohmer added 14 points, three steals and two rebounds, Tony Tolovae 12 points and five boards, and Zachery Hudson 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

The Bruins are now 3-2 with the back-to-back losses with Hayden Blankley top-scoring with 17 points and six rebounds. Andre Holford also had 12 points and Naaman Hightower nine points, 13 rebounds and two steals.

The Bruins are away to the Canberra Nationals on Sunday at 3pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Bulls next play away to the Norths Bears next Saturday.

BANKSTOWN BRUINS 63 (Blankley 17, Wolford 12, Hightower 9)

INNER WEST BULLS 77 (Higgins-Titsha 21, Ohmer 14, Tolovae 12)

Central Coast Crusaders (85) defeated Centre of Excellence (80)

Robbie Heath came up huge once more to lead the Central Coast Crusaders to the home 85-80 victory against the Centre of Excellence.

The Crusaders came into the contest at Breakers Indoor Sports Stadium at 2-2 on the season with the CoE also having split their first two games of the season last weekend.

The Crusaders started well against the Basketball Australia young guns to lead by five points at quarter-time before extending that advantage out to 15 points in the second term.

Central Coast were still leading 47-33 at half-time and the lead for the home team was back out to 16 points in the third quarter, but the Centre of Excellence kept on coming.

The CoE fired all the way back to grab the lead midway through the fourth quarter on the back of a jumper from James O'Donnell.

Robbie Heath responded with an and-one play to restore Central Coast to the lead but the CoE hit back once more and a three-point play for the visitors from Luke Fennell had them back in front.

Eventually with two minutes on the clock it was a three ball from Theus Evan Wardlow that had Central Coast leading by two but 30 seconds later and Josh Dent put the Centre of Excellence back on top.

In the end the biggest shot of the night was a three to Chan Nai to push the Crusaders back to the four-point lead with 45 seconds to go, and they would go on to win by five from there.

Robbie Heath was ultimately the main difference between the two teams and finished with 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals on 9/26 shooting from the floor, 4/10 from downtown and 10/11 at the foul line.

Theus Evan Wardlow added 16 points, eight boards, four assists and two steals, Seth Chapman nine points, seven rebounds and four steals, and Chan Nai nine points and four boards.

James O'Donnell had a huge night for the Centre of Excellence with 24 points and 20 rebounds on 9/13 shooting with Luke Fennell adding 24 points on 4/7 three-point shooting, and Kye Savage 10 points and two rebounds.

The Crusaders back up to host the Maitland Mustangs on Saturday at 7pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. Earlier the CoE are away to the Hills Hornets at 5pm.

CENTRAL COAST CRUSADERS 85 (Heath 32, Wardlow 16, Chapman 9, Nai 9)

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 80 (O'Donnell 24, Fennell 24, Savage 10)

Penrith Panthers (78) lost to Hills Hornets (109)

Ishmael Sanders put up 36 points with eight three-pointers as the Hills Hornets made it back-to-back wins beating the Penrith Panthers 109-78.

The Hornets had opened their account for 2024 last Saturday beating the Central Coast Crusaders ahead of taking on a Panthers team at Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre also coming off a first win over the Illawarra Hawks.

So both teams were looking to make it back-to-back wins with the Hornets shooting out of the blocks to finish the opening quarter with an 11-0 scoring run to be leading 36-19 by the end of one.

Hills kept the scoring run going to stretch it to 13 to open the second term and eventually the Hornets would lead by 27 points in the second frame before heading into half-time on top 60-38.

The lead for the Hornets was out to as much as 33 points in the final term too and they would go on to win by 31 to improve to 2-2 on the season with the consecutive victories.

Ishmael Sanders came up huge for the Hornets finishing the night with 26 points and three assists while hitting 8/15 from three-point range.

Chris Bryant also delivered 23 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals on 9/10 field goal shooting while Joe Patmore added 17 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals, and Patrick Nicholson 12 points, four steals and three boards.

Ben Kearins ended up with 29 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals on 4/7 three-point shooting for Penrith while Ryan Peterson added 11 points and nine boards, and Brodie Schwarzer nine points, three rebounds and two steals.

The Hornets will host the Centre of Excellence on Saturday at 5pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Panthers host the Newcastle Falcons at 7:30pm.

PENRITH PANTHERS 78 (Kearins 29, Peterson 11, Schwarzer 9)

HILLS HORNETS 109 (Sanders 36, Bryant 23, Patmore 17)