South Recap | Round 10 Monday

Image credit: Ian Knight Photography

Steph Reid and Diamond Valley Eagles finished strongly for the King's Birthday NBL1 South win before Waverley Falcons won a wildly swinging men's contest with new point guard Khalil Shabazz putting in another standout performance.

SOUTH RECAP | ROUND 9 FRIDAY (2)

WOMEN

Waverley Falcons (71) lost to Diamond Valley Eagles (77)

With both teams full of star power and trying to break into the top four, it was a thrilling Monday night battle and in the end it was the Diamond Valley Eagles who came from behind for the 77-71 win over the Waverley Falcons.

It was a Monday twilight battle at Waverley Basketball Centre on King's Birthday and the stage was nicely set with the defending champion Falcons looking to move into the top four, and the Eagles attempting to take a step closer to that spot themselves.

Waverley also unveiled new import Jenna Batsch for the contest but it was Diamond Valley who had the better of the start to be leading 21-18 by quarter-time even while shooting 1/10 from behind the three-point arc.

Waverley were able to go on a 7-0 scoring run in the second term and ended up shooting 9/15 for that quarter including 3/6 from downtown to outscore Diamond Valley 24 points to 20 and to take a 42-41 lead into half-time despite Steph Reid scoring on the buzzer for the Eagles.

The Falcons were able to build on that advantage in the third quarter to get out to an eight-point lead at one stage even with the two teams only combining for 24 points and going 2/11 from three-point territory.

Waverley were still leading 55-52 by three quarter-time, but it was then all the Eagles in the last stanza as they outscored the home team 25 points to 16 to turn that three-point deficit into the six-point victory.

Neither team had great shooting nights but Diamond Valley did end up with seven extra field goal attempts and three more free-throws on the back of forcing Waverley into 25 turnovers from which they were able to score 15 points.

Diamond Valley continue to close in on a top four position improving to a 9-4 record with Steph Reid ending up with 20 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals on 9/16 field goal shooting.

Abbey Ellis also had 16 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals, Lara McSpadden 15 points and 10 boards on 7/10 shooting, and Tayha Watkins 10 points, five rebounds and two steals including three crucial late free throws.

Waverley are now sitting on a 9-5 record as the defending champions but there were impressive signs from new import Jenna Batsch who finished with 16 points with 4/5 three-point shooting.

Renae Mokrzycki also had 17 points, eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks despite a sore hamstring, and Carley Ernst 13 points, seven boards, five assists and three steals.

Bec Cole competed hard the whole game but found the going tough with 1/9 shooting to end up with six points, six rebounds and six assists.

WAVERLEY FALCONS 71 (Mokrzycki 17, Batsch 16, Ernst 13)

DIAMOND VALLEY EAGLES 77 (Reid 20, Ellis 16, McSpadden 15)

MEN

Waverley Falcons (96) defeated Diamond Valley Eagles (80)

It was a Monday night of dramatic swings for King's Birthday for three quarters but then the Waverley Falcons were able to pull away in the last term to end up beating the Diamond Valley Eagles 96-80.

Both the Falcons are trying to get on a roll to put themselves back in the playoff race coming into the Monday night match up at Waverley Basketball Centre and they ended up putting on quite the show to wrap up the King's Birthday public holiday.

It was a stunning start on their home floor from Waverley as they piled on 38 points in the first quarter on the back of shooting 13/22 from the field including 6/10 from downtown and even 6/8 at the foul line.

They were also able to hold Diamond Valley to 15 points on 7/22 shooting with the Falcons leading by 23 at quarter-time.

The Eagles had a lot of work to do to get back into the game and they were able to produce as equally a dominant second quarter.

Diamond Valley put up 32 points on shooting 12/18 from the field including 4/8 from downtown while limiting the Falcons to just the seven points on 3/15 shooting.

That saw the Eagles go into the half-time break leading 47-45 which had seemed inconceivable when down 23 at half-time.

The swings continued in the third quarter with Waverley working back on top by outscoring Diamond Valley 25 points to 19, and they the Falcons were able to go on with the job with 26 points to 14 in the final frame.

That saw Waverley end up scoring the 16-point victory which didn’t tell the full story of what a competitive and entertaining contest it had been.

By the end of the night, Waverley did end up shooting 46 per cent from the field to 42 along with going 10/25 from downtown to 7/23, and 20/28 at the foul line to 11/20.

New Falcons import point guard Khalil Shabazz produced a strong showing made up of 27 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two assists on the back of shooting 9/18 from the floor, 4/9 from three-point territory and 5/8 at the foul line.

Michael Harper also produced 22 points and six rebounds, Malik Meunier 20 points, seven assists and five boards, Matthew McCarthy 13 points, seven rebounds and two assists, and Mason Forbes six points, 13 boards, four blocked shots and two steals.

Despite the encouraging signs throughout the night, Diamond Valley are now 4-9 on the season with Jock Perry finishing with 23 points, 12 rebounds and two steals with 3/6 three-point shooting.

Jesse Ghee also produced 15 points, four steals and three assists for the Eagles, Jesse McIntosh 14 points, three rebounds and three steals, and Ngor Manyang 10 points and five boards.

WAVERLEY FALCONS 96 (Shabazz 27, Harper 22, Meunier 20)

DIAMOND VALLEY EAGLES 80 (Perry 20, Ghee 18, McIntosh 14)