South Recap | Round 14 Sunday

Image credit: Mike Mason | @undraftedmediaofficial

Knox Raiders women made it 11 straight and the men locked away top spot in NBL1 South on Sunday while both Eltham Wildcats teams had victories, and Diamond Valley Eagles and Hobart Chargers split their battles.

SOUTH RECAP | ROUND 14 SATURDAY

SOUTH RECAP | ROUND 14 FRIDAY

SOUTH RECAP | ROUND 14 TUESDAY

WOMEN

Diamond Valley Eagles (97) defeated Hobart Chargers (80)

The Diamond Valley Eagles locked in their finals spot and even stayed in touch of a top four finish by prevailing 97-80 in a battle of shorthanded teams against the Hobart Chargers.

The Eagles lost to the Melbourne Tigers back on Friday night in the absence of Steph Reid and Abbey Ellis who are both with the Australian Opals for the FIBA Asia Cup in China.

They were then hosting a Chargers team who were without Claire Murray, Sharna Thompson, Emerson Wells, Chloe Broomhall and Tayla Roberts for this weekend's double-header which started on Saturday night with a loss to the Frankston Blues.

Hobart were already out of the playoff hunt but were able to play with freedom because of that and got off to a tremendous start with 26 points to 15 in the first quarter while shooting 10/18 from the field opposed to the 6/21 from the Eagles.

Diamond Valley needed to respond because they could still miss the playoffs altogether if they keep losing and they did manage a 12-0 scoring run in the second quarter on the way to piling on 36 points.

The Eagles shot 14/23 from the field in the second term for those 36 points while holding the Chargers to 21 on 7/13 shooting with the difference purely just in the number of shots going up.

That saw Diamond Valley leading 51-47 by half-time and then the Eagles went on with the job in the second half from there with the lead getting out to 14 points in the third term, and 19 in the fourth as they scored the important 17-point victory.

The win keeps Diamond Valley steady in sixth position with a 13-7 record ahead of finishing at home to the Nunawading Spectres and Frankston Blues in the last round.

Carly Turner produced 23 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and two assists with 4/8 three-point shooting in the win for the Eagles with Lara McSpadden adding 17 points, 11 boards, six assists and two steals.

Erin Riley also had 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists, Lauren Jones 15 points, four assists and three boards, Sophie Byrnes 10 points, seven assists and four rebounds, and Tayha Watkins 10 points, seven boards and two assists.

Hobart are now 5-16 on the season having lost nine of the past 10 matches ahead of finishing at home to the Dandenong Rangers on Friday night.

The Chargers had just the seven players available with Chelsea D'Angelo finishing with 28 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and six steals.

Ellie Collins also had 24 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks, Kayla Steindl 17 points, five boards, four steals, three assists and two blocks.

DIAMOND VALLEY EAGLES 97 (Turner 23, McSpadden 17, Riley 16)

HOBART CHARGERS 80 (D'Angelo 28, Collins 24, Steindl 17)

Eltham Wildcats (83) defeated Launceston Tornadoes (79)

The two teams might have been out of the final race and occupying bottom three positions but that didn’t stop them putting on an entertaining Sunday affair with the Eltham Wildcats ending up beating the Launceston Tornadoes 83-79.

The Wildcats were back home at Montmorency Secondary College having lost their past six matches including back on Friday night against the Frankston Blues ahead of hosting the Tornadoes on Sunday.

Launceston arrived looking to bounce back from a loss on Saturday night to the Sandringham Sabres as well with both teams trying to have a morale boosting victory late in the season.

Eltham were narrowly leading 16-13 by the end of the first quarter and then the Wildcats were able to continue to build on that lead with it getting out to eight by half-time.

The Wildcats were then up by 15 points still with 3:15 to play in the game but the Tornadoes then threw everything at a stirring fightback and were all the way back within three points when Shelby Rayner knocked down a three-pointer with 15 seconds to play.

Jayde Cadee responded with a pair of free throws for Eltham but Launceston refused to go away and answered with a three-point play to Megan Mullings to get within two points.

Launceston fouled Kayla Salmons who was able to make both free throws and that made the margin four and the spirited Tornadoes comeback just came up short.

Eltham improves to a 4-16 record as a result of the Sunday victory with Kennedy Dickie delivering 31 points, seven rebounds and two steals.

Jayde Cadee added 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Julia Drop 14 points, six boards, two assists and two steals, and Taylah Short 11 points with 3/7 three-point shooting.

Launceston are now 4-17 with the defeat as they return home to close their season at home to the Dandenong Rangers.

Megan Mullings delivered 25 points, six steals, five rebounds, two assists and two blocks for the Tornadoes with 11/15 field goal shooting while Sarah O'Neill contributed 15 points, six boards, five assists and two blocks, Ava McDonald 11 points, two assists and two steals, and Keely Froling 10 points, seven rebounds and two assists.

ELTHAM WILDCATS 83 (Dickie 31, Cadee 15, Drop 14)

LAUNCESTON TORNADOES 79 (Mullings 25, O'Neill 15, McDonald 11)

Keilor Thunder (64) lost to Knox Raiders (79)

Keilor Thunder hadn’t lost since May 10 coming into this weekend but fell to a second straight loss with the Knox Raiders moving clear of them in second place as a result with the 79-64 victory.

It was second against third at Keilor Stadium on Sunday afternoon with Keilor having their nine-game winning streak ended back on Friday night at the expense of the Ballarat Miners.

Knox, meanwhile, made it 10 consecutive wins when they beat the Ringwood Hawks on Saturday night and the winner of the clash to close Round 14 was always likely to lock away second spot in behind Geelong United.

Working against Keilor was the absence of star pair Maddy Rocci and Issie Bourne, and it would prove too much for them to cover with Knox opening up a 26-20 lead already by quarter-time.

That lead continued to grow through the rest of the afternoon getting out to 10 points for the Raiders in the second quarter, 14 in the third and 15 in the fourth before they secured the 15-point victory.

The win is an 11th in-a-row for Knox who improve to an 18-3 record in second position as a result with just one game in their season remaining on Saturday against the Ballarat Miners.

Kristy Wallace top-scored for Knox with 18 points and four assists with Rachel Bell adding 15 points with 6/9 shooting, Alicia Froling 14 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, Agnes Emma-Nnopu 10 points and 10 boards, and Paige Bradley seven points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Keilor are now 16-4 in third position as a result of the loss with two games to go in their regular season with against Geelong United and the Nunawading Spectres.

Penina Davidson top-scored for the Thunder with 21 points, nine rebounds and two assists with Jasmine Dickey contributing 20 points and 11 boards, Isobelle Wightman 10 points, three blocks and two rebounds, and Nikki Metcalfe eight points.

KEILOR THUNDER 64 (Davidson 21, Dickey 20, Wightman 10)

KNOX RAIDERS 79 (Wallace 18, Bell 15, Froling 14)

MEN

Diamond Valley Eagles (79) lost to Hobart Chargers (87)

The Hobart Chargers wrapped up their last double-header on the road for the season with the 87-79 win over the Diamond Valley Eagles with Jacob Richards delivering another 27 points.

Hobart arrived at Diamond Valley Sports and Fitness Centre on the back of beating the Frankston Blues 119-118 in a thriller on Saturday night but they did need to keep winning if they want to play finals in 2025.

Diamond Valley were still in bottom place coming into the match up on their home floor too and after the Eagles started well to open up an early five-point lead, the Chargers worked on top to be up 25-22 by quarter-time.

Diamond Valley answered back well with 19 points to 10 in the second frame while holding the Chargers to 3/18 shooting with the Eagles heading into half-time with the 41-35 advantage.

Hobart's season was potentially on the line and they responded accordingly in the third quarter with 28 points to 14 thanks to shooting 11/17 from the field to turn that six-point deficit into an eight-point lead.

The Chargers then completed the job for the eight-point win to improve to a 12-8 record to sit in seventh position with the double win weekend with a game to finish at home on Friday against the Dandenong Rangers.

Jacob Richards is having a standout season for Hobart and had 27 points, seven rebounds and three assists with Ole Angerstein contributing 14 points, 12 boards, four assists and two blocks, Henry Makeny 12 points and five rebounds, and Saturday night's hero Vincent DeAngelo 11 points, four assists and three boards.

Diamond Valley remain in bottom spot at 5-15 with games to finish at home against the Nunawading Spectres and Frankston Blues this coming weekend.

The Eagles only had the seven players available to suit up with Ryley Haywood delivering 22 points, five assists, three steals and two rebounds.

Adam Thoseby added 17 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals, Noah Todd 14 points and three boards, Ryan Bowkett 10 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals, and Jock Perry six points and eight boards.

DIAMOND VALLEY EAGLES 79 (Haywood 22, Thoseby 17, Todd 14)

HOBART CHARGERS 87 (Richards 27, Angerstein 14, Makeny 12)

Eltham Wildcats (115) defeated North West Tasmania Thunder (75)

The Eltham Wildcats continued their hot form and made it five straight wins with their championship defence well and truly alive with the 115-75 home win against the North West Tasmania Thunder.

The Wildcats were back home at Montmorency Secondary College having won their past four matches including back on Friday night against the Frankston Blues to consolidate themselves in a playoff spot.

North West arrived to play their last road game of the season having lost the previous night in yet another heartbreaking loss for 2025 against the Sandringham Sabres.

Eltham just had to keep their momentum going to play finals again as the defending champions and after North West Tasmania did start well, the Wildcats worked on top by quarter-time with an 11-0 run to lead 20-17.

That momentum continued into the second term with a 13-0 run for Eltham as the lead got out to 19 points and by half-time they were leading 50-33.

It was still just a 19-point game by three quarter-time but then it was a dazzling fourth quarter form Eltham as they piled on 40 points with 13/14 shooting from the field including 6/7 from three-point range and making all six at the charity stripe.

North West only managed to shoot 4/15 to close out the game with Eltham's lead ballooning to the final 40-point margin as they consolidated their playoff spot to be knocking on the door of the top four with a 12-8 record with five straight wins.

Gabe Hadley continued his rich vein of form for Eltham with another 26 points and seven rebounds with 5/9 shooting from behind the three-point arc.

Xavier Bledson added 25 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals, Sam Whelan 13 points and two boards, Mitch McCarron 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals, and Josh Sykes 11 points and seven boards.

North West are now 5-15 on the season and finishing at home on Saturday night against the Dandenong Rangers with Anok Magot finishing with 17 points and four rebounds with 5/7 three-point shooting.

Lachlan Barker added 15 points, five assists and three rebounds, Tre Armstrong 15 points and six boards, and Kye Savage 11 points, four steals, three rebounds and three assists.

ELTHAM WILDCATS 115 (Hadley 26, Bledson 25, Whelan 13, McCarron 13)

NORTH WEST TASMANIA THUNDER 75 (Magot 17, Barker 15, Armstrong 15)

Keilor Thunder (82) lost to Knox Raiders (93)

The imposing form of the Knox Raiders continued as they locked away the regular season crown with a 93-82 win over Keilor Thunder with Sydney Kings NBL powerhouse Keli Leaulepe delivering 33 points.

The Raiders hit the road to Keilor Stadium fresh off a thrilling three-point win over the Ringwood Hawks on Saturday night while the Thunder were trying to take the challenge up to the league-leaders after their own 10-point loss to Ballarat back on Friday.

Knox made a fast start opening up an early nine-point lead but Keilor responded well and by quarter-time it was just a 21-20 lead for the Raiders.

Things remained tight the rest of the first half too and by half-time the scores were all locked away at 42-42 with Keilor shooting 17/31 while Knox went at 15/37.

Then in the third quarter, the Raiders did again begin to work on top with a run of eight straight points and then the league-leaders pulled away in the final stanza with 27 points to 20 to secure the 11-point victory.

The win improves Knox to a 17-4 record on the season to lock away top spot on the back of winning the last two NBL1 National Finals and then 2023 NBL1 South championship.

Keli Leaulepe was a dominant force once more for Knox with the Sydney Kings NBL weapon producing 33 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two assists on shooting 12/16 from the floor and 3/4 from downtown.

Brayon Blake added 20 points, five assists and three rebounds, Tad Dufelmeier 17 points, 11 boards, six assists and five steals, and Brody Nunn 13 points, four assists and three rebounds.

Keilor are now 7-13 on the season having lost three straight with a game to finish on Saturday night away to the Nunawading Spectres.

South East Melbourne Phoenix development player Daniel Foster finished with 28 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals for Keilor with Dante Thompson adding 18 points, six boards, two assists and two steals.

Jayce Beasley added nine points and two rebounds, and Daniel Poelsma nine points with 3/6 three-point shooting.

KEILOR THUNDER 82 (Foster 28, Thompson 18, Beasley 9, Poelsma 9)

KNOX RAIDERS 93 (Leaulepe 33, Blake 20, Dufelmeier 17)