South Recap | Round 15 Tuesday

Image credit: Ian Knight Photography

The Ringwood Hawks women kept their NBL1 South season alive with a Tuesday night win in front of a sold out 1275 crowd before Kilsyth Cobras ended the season of the Ringwood men and the career of Matt Fennell.

SOUTH RECAP | ROUND 14 SUNDAY

WOMEN

Ringwood Hawks (75) defeated Kilsyth Cobras (70)

The only hope the Ringwood Hawks had of reaching the playoffs was winning on Tuesday night to open Round 15 and they got that wish beating the Kilsyth Cobras 75-70 with Nyaduoth Lok delivering 27 points.

The final round of the regular season got underway at Norwood Secondary College on Tuesday night with Ringwood needing to win and then rely on other results over the weekend to see if their season is over or not.

The Hawks came into the game in ninth position with an 11-10 record and needing to get to 12 wins, and then hoping Frankston and Melbourne lose both their games to finish.

Then it would come down to head-to-head and Ringwood wouldn’t be able to finish ahead of the Blues having lost to them twice, but they do hold the season split over the Tigers.

Kilsyth came into the game having won just five matches all season and having lost their last four, but they still had the potential to make things tricky for the Hawks.

Even though Ringwood opened up a seven-point lead in the first quarter, by quarter-time that advantage was back to just 22-20.

It remained a tight contest leading into half-time as well with 21 points apiece and by half-time it was a narrow 43-41 lead with Ringwood shooting 20/36 opposed to the 18/43 to the Cobras.

Ringwood were able to complete an 11-0 run in the third term to open up a 13-point lead but even after that the Cobras wouldn’t go away and had it all the way back to a tied ball game when Abby O'Connor knocked down a free-throw with 2:30 to play.

It was time to get nervous for Ringwood with their season on the line but they did respond well starting with a layup to Camille Hobby before she repeated the dose to push the lead out to three, and they won by five with a couple of free throws to Annabel Deerbon.

The Hawks ended up shooting 47 per cent from the field opposed to 36 from Kilsyth but the Cobras stayed close thanks to 18 offensive rebounds and forcing Ringwood into 15 turnovers.

But Ringwood got the win they needed to keep their season alive finishing with an 11-11 record to now be relying on the Tigers losing both their remaining games against the Casey Cavaliers and Waverley Falcons.

Nyaduoth Lok put in a standout performance in the win for the Hawks with 27 points, seven rebounds and two assists on the back of shooting 11/17 from the field and 4/7 from behind the three-point arc.

Camille Hobby added 21 points and nine rebounds, Sarah Elsworthy 14 points, eight assists and six boards, and Annabel Deerbon nine points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Abby O'Connor top-scored in the loss for Kilsyth who are now 5-16 on the season with one game to go at home to the Waverley Falcons on Friday night.

O'Connor finished with 26 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals with Nikita Young contributing 11 points and four boards, Georgia Dale 10 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals, and Ally Bates eight points, two boards, two assists and two steals.

RINGWOOD HAWKS 75 (Lok 27, Hobby 21, Elsworthy 14)

KILSYTH COBRAS 70 (O'Connor 26, Young 11, Dale 10)

MEN

Ringwood Hawks (91) lost to Kilsyth Cobras (104)

The season is over of the Ringwood Hawks and so is the career of retiring great Matthew Fennell with the Kilsyth Cobras keeping their own top four hopes alive in the process with the 104-91 victory.

It was a sold out crowd at Norwood Secondary College for the last game of the season for the Hawks on Tuesday night and they needed to win to remain any hope of breaking into the playoffs.

Ringwood started the last round on 11 wins but with five teams inside the top eight on 12 wins, they could have kept their season alive with the win on Tuesday night and then hoping any of the teams above them on 12 wins didn’t win again and they held the season split over.

However, it wasn’t as if Kilsyth didn’t have plenty to still to play for as one of those teams on 12 wins and still a chance to finish in the top four if they win their remaining two games, and then depending on how the other results fall over the weekend.

It was a high-scoring opening to the contest with the two teams combining for 59 points in the opening term and it was Kilsyth leading 31-29 by quarter-time thanks to shooting 11/19 from the field opposed to 10/20 from Ringwood.

Kilsyth threatened to blow the game open in the second term opening up a 14-point lead thanks to going on a 13-0 run, but Ringwood's season was hanging by a thread and they produced a big finish to the half.

That included the Hawks scoring eight straight points themselves and by half-time the Kilsyth lead cut back to just 57-55.

Then after Ringwood briefly grabbed the lead early in the second half, Kilsyth took over and this time it would be for good including opening up a 10-point lead in the third quarter.

There would be no coming back for the Hawks in the last quarter with the Kilsyth lead getting out to 14 points and they would eventually score the 13-point victory.

In a game where not much separated the two teams right across the board, Ringwood only going 6/14 from the foul line opposed to 13/16 from the Cobras proved to be a pivotal factor.

Kilsyth now improves to a 13-8 record with the six straight wins to strengthen their top four claims with a game of the regular season to finish on Friday back at home also to the Waverley Falcons.

Dillon Stith had moments throughout the night where he was playing as a man possessed. He finished with 24 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots on 4/8 three-point shooting.

Khadim Sy added 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Jamie Ahale 19 points, four boards and three assists, Adrian Tomada 13 points, seven assists and six rebounds, Hamish MacDonald 11 points, two boards and two steals, and Corey Jeffs nine points, four rebounds and four assists.

The season is now over for Ringwood as they finish with an 11-11 record and the decorated career of Matthew Fennell is also over after he had six points, seven rebounds and five assists in the last 29 minutes at SEABL/NBL1 level.

South East Melbourne Phoenix guard Angus Glover did all he could to lift Ringwood who were missing expectant father Tanner Krebs by finishing with 36 points, three rebounds and three assists on 9/17 three-point shooting.

Tom Carroll added 16 points, seven rebounds and two assists, Max Richards 10 points and seven boards, and Jonathan Lawton 12 points, five assists, two rebounds and two steals.

RINGWOOD HAWKS 91 (Glover 36, Carroll 16, Lawton 12)

KILSYTH COBRAS 104 (Stith 24, Ahale 19, Sy 19)