South Recap | Round 6 Sunday

Image credit: Xavier Papadakos | @xnp_photography

The defending NBL1 South champion Waverley Falcons made it five straight wins on Sunday with Sienna Harvey again lifting the Melbourne Tigers while the Ballarat Miners pulled off a huge comeback thanks to Luke Rosendale and Nick Stoddart.

SOUTH RECAP | ROUND 6 SATURDAY

WOMEN

Ballarat Miners (71) lost to Diamond Valley Eagles (86)

Tayha Watkins came up big for the shorthanded Diamond Valley Eagles with 25 points as they beat the Ballarat Miners 86-71 on the road on Sunday afternoon.

Diamond Valley were playing their only game of the weekend and came into the match up at Selkirk Stadium on a five-game winning streak, but they were also without Abbey Ellis and Steph Reid who were on Australian Opals duties in the Trans-Tasman Throwdown.

The Miners were attempting to bounce back from a 33-point loss also on their home floor the previous night and were still without Abbey Wehrung and Micah Simpson.

Diamond Valley started well to be leading 22-17 at quarter-time before they continued to build on that lead to go into the half-time break on top 44-35 while going 15/32 from the field and 10/11 at the foul line opposed to Ballarat's 14/39 and 2/5.

The lead continued to grow for the Eagles in the second half getting out to 15 points in the third quarter and 16 in the fourth before they secured the 15-point victory.

The win improves Diamond Valley to a 6-3 record on the season having now won their past six matches with Tayha Watkins delivering 25 points, six rebounds and two assists on 9/16 from the field and 5/5 at the foul line.

She had plenty of support too with Lara McSpadden delivering 17 points and nine rebounds, Erin Riley 14 points, nine boards, four assists and three steals, and Sophie Byrnes 13 points, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

Having lost twice this weekend Ballarat slips to a 3-6 record on the season with Opal Bird finishing with 17 points and three rebounds with Laura Taylor contributing 14 points, 17 boards and six assists, and Julia Gladkova 13 points, four rebounds and two steals.

BALLARAT MINERS 71 (Bird 17, Taylor 14, Gladkova 13)

DIAMOND VALLEY EAGLES 86 (Watkins 25, McSpadden 17, Riley 14)

Waverley Falcons (83) defeated Casey Cavaliers (60)

The defending champion Waverley Falcons continued their urging form with a fifth straight win beating the Casey Cavaliers 83-60 who were without their Tall Ferns stars.

With Bec Cole and Carley Ernst back together in the line-up, the Falcons are yet to lose in 2025 and put that four-game winning streak on the line at home to the Cavs at Waverley Basketball Centre on Sunday.

Waverley were fresh off beating the Sandringham Sabres the previous night while the Cavs went down to the Mount Gambier Pioneers with Esra McGoldrick and Sharne Robati both on international duties with New Zealand in the Trans-Tasman Throwdown.

The Falcons opened up a 10-point lead already in the first quarter while still being up six at quarter-time before continuing to dominate the contest the rest of the afternoon on their home floor.

The lead for Waverley grew to 14 points in the second quarter, to 22 in the third and 29 in the fourth before they went on to secure the 23-point victory thanks to shooting 41 per cent from the field opposed to the 31 from the Cavaliers.

The Falcons also went 20/26 at the foul line opposed to 6/8 while pulling down 53 rebounds to 44 as they made it five consecutive wins to improve to a 7-2 record on the season as defending NBL1 South and National champions.

It was Bec Cole's turn to top-score int eh win for the Falcons with 20 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals on 8/16 shooting with 3/4 at the free-throw line.

Amelia Todhunter also contributed 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals, Renae Mokrzycki 13 points, six boards and two assists, and Sophia Locandro 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Cavaliers lost both games this weekend without their Kiwi stars to now sit on a 4-5 record with Asha Nightingale top-scoring with 21 points to go with six rebounds and two assists.

Ahlise Hurst added 13 points, three rebounds and three assists, and Sabrina Haines 10 points, eight boards and five assists.

WAVERLEY FALCONS 83 (Cole 20, Todhunter 14, Mokrzycki 13)

CASEY CAVALIERS 60 (Nightingale 21, Hurst 13, Haines 10)

Melbourne Tigers (68) defeated Frankston Blues (62)

Both teams were missing key players but once again it was Sienna Harvey putting the Melbourne Tigers on her shoulders to carry them to the 68-62 win over the Frankston Blues.

The Tigers were fresh off a Saturday night match up which saw them beat the Ballarat Miners by 33 points even without the presence of Ella Tofaeono, Sara Blicavs and Izzy Borlase who are all part of the Trans-Tasman Throwdown this week.

The Blues were playing their first game since beating the Mount Gambier Pioneers last Sunday but they too were shorthanded with Lauren Scherf with the Australian Opals while Bonnie Deas was also missing.

That created a contest where both teams were just going to have to figure things out without some of their most important players and it was Melbourne narrowly leading 16-14 by quarter-time despite the Blues going 8/10 at the foul line.

Frankston then worked on top in the second term with 18 points to 12 to see the visitors take the 32-28 lead into the half-time break.

Melbourne began to work on top in the third quarter with 18 points to 11 but Frankston worked back on top and even briefly grabbed the lead early in the fourth when Zoe Schonfelder knocked down a three-pointer.

But then after the Tigers were clinging to a 51-50 lead, they made their move and would score the next 10 straight points to break the game open and end up securing the six-point win on the back of that.

The victory improves the Tigers to a 5-3 record with the pair of wins this weekend with 19-year-old point guard Sienna Harvey outstanding once again with 23 points and four assists on shooting 3/5 from downtown.

Eve Braslis also had 20 points and four rebounds in the win while Indiah Bowyer contributed 17 points, five boards and three assists, and Charlotte Brancatisano and Abbey Sutherland combined to pull down 16 rebounds.

Frankston are now 4-4 with the defeat with Lou Brown finishing with 18 points, 16 rebounds and four assists with Jacqui Trotto stepping up to deliver 18 points and eight boards while Tori Jackson had seven points, six rebounds and five assists.

MELBOURNE TIGERS 68 (Harvey 23, Braslis 20, Bowyer 17)

FRANKSTON BLUES 62 (Brown 18, Trotto 18, Wilkins 7, Jackson 7, Schonfelder 7)

MEN

Ballarat Miners (104) defeated Diamond Valley Eagles (94)

The Ballarat Miners pulled off a stunning come from behind win to shake off a rough Saturday night with Nick Stoddart and Luke Rosendale combining for 59 points and nine threes in the 104-94 win over the Diamond Valley Eagles.

The Miners lost the night before by 25 points also on their home floor to the Melbourne Tigers as they returned to Selkirk Stadium focused on responding when hosting the Eagles.

Diamond Valley arrived also trying to bounce back from a loss last Saturday to the Eltham Wildcats and it was the visitors who were in control for virtually all of the first three quarters.

The Eagles were already leading 29-20 by the end of the first quarter and then went into half-time on top 60-40 having shot 21/35 from the field including going 6/12 from the land of plenty.

Diamond Valley were then leading by as much as 23 points in the third quarter but that's when Ballarat made a stand and began to turn the tide by going on a 12-0 run.

The Miners ended up scoring 34 points in the third quarter to cut the deficit to three by three quarter-time, and the home team went on with the job from there with 30 points to 17 in the fourth to have turned that 23-point deficit into a 10-point win.

It was an impressive come from behind win for last season's grand finalists as they improve to a 6-3 record as a result with Luke Rosendale delivering 32 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals with 7/13 three-point shooting.

Nick Stoddart shook off a tough game the previous night to put up 26 points, five assists, three rebounds and three assists as well for the Miners with Aiden Krause contributing 15 points, nine boards, six assists and two steals.

Diamond Valley now sit on a 3-6 record following the defeat with Jock Perry producing 32 points, six rebounds and four assists on 12/17 shooting from the field and 3/3 from three-point territory.

Adam Thoseby also had 17 points on 3/5 long-range shooting, Jesse McIntosh 21 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Jesse Ghee 10 points and three assists.

BALLARAT MINERS 104 (Rosendale 32, Stoddart 26, Krause 15)

DIAMOND VALLEY EAGLES 94 (Perry 32, McIntosh 21, Thoseby 17)

Waverley Falcons (90) lost to Casey Cavaliers (95)

The Casey Cavaliers bounced back from a Saturday night loss at home to defeat the Waverley Falcons 95-90 on Sunday with Trendon Hankerson and Tyler Robertson combining for 45 points and six three-pointers.

Both teams were in action on Saturday night with the Falcons beating the Sandringham Sabres to snap a three-game losing slide while the Cavs lost a heart stopper at home to the Mount Gambier Pioneers.

They backed it up with the Sunday match up at Waverley Basketball Centre with both teams scoring 27 points in the first quarter and scores were all square by quarter-time.

Even with Waverley opening up a seven-point lead in the second period, Casey hit back and held the narrow 54-53 lead by half-time while making 7/16 from downtown opposed to the 4/16 for the Falcons but Waverley did attempt 10 extra free throws.

The Cavs did open up a nine-point lead in the third quarter and that became as much as 10 in the fourth before they were able to end up securing the five-point victory with both teams ending up splitting their double-header weekends.

Casey improves to a 6-3 record with the victory with Trendon Hankerson putting up 23 points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals with Tyler Robertson adding 22 points, eight boards and two steals. Both players also shot 3/8 from behind the three-point arc.

Ben Waller added 14 points and five rebounds for the Cavs, Hunter Marks 10 points and three assists, and Anthony Karabatsos 10 points and two rebounds.

Waverley are now 4-5 on the season following the home defeat with Robbie Heath continuing his impressive form with another 20 points, six rebounds and five assists with 9/9 shooting at the foul line.

Madut Akec added 19 points and four rebounds, Malik Meunier 13 points and nine boards, Mason Forbes 10 points and nine rebounds, and Bennie Lewis eight points, seven boards, three steals and two assists.

WAVERLEY FALCONS 90 (Heath 20, Akec 19, Meunier 13)

CASEY CAVALIERS 95 (Hankerson 23, Robertson 22, Waller 14)

Melbourne Tigers (69) lost to Frankston Blues (89)

Jack Purchase couldn’t quite repeat his heroics from seven days earlier with the Frankston Blues making it a fourth straight win with the 89-69 road victory.

The Tigers were back home at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre attempting to back up a Saturday night road win over the Ballarat Miners as they were back in action just seven days after Jack Purchase exploded for an NBL1 record 55 points last Sunday.

Frankston came into the match up having won three straight including beating the Mount Gambier Pioneers on Friday night and then the Blues piled on eight here-pointers in the first quarter against the Tigers.

As a result of that they were already leading 30-19 by the end of the first quarter and then the Blues produced another 21 points to 11 in the second term to go into the half-time break on top 51-30 having shot 10/22 from downtown opposed to the 3/16 from the Tigers.

That lead for Frankston got out to as much as 34 points in the third quarter as well and the Blues ended up securing the 20-point win thanks to knocking down 17/37 from behind the arc opposed to the 7/30 from the Tigers.

Frankston have now won four in-a-row to be sitting in second place at 6-2 and that's with Daniel Trist still to come into the line-up who was there on the bench on Sunday.

Tom Garrett finished with 17 points and three rebounds with 5/11 three-point shooting while Vincent Monaghan added 17 points on 4/6 from deep.

Lucas Barker also knocked down 3/6 for 15 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds with Michael Harris contributing 12 points, nine boards and five assists, and Igor Hadziomerovic 10 points, eight rebounds and two assists.

The Tigers are just outside the top eight following the loss with a 4-4 record despite Tom Wilson continuing his impressive form ahead of his NBL return with another 15 points, 12 assists and six rebounds.

Jack Purchase only shot 4/13 from the field on the way to 13 points and seven rebounds with Mason Gaze contributing nine points, three boards and three blocks, and Chris Arcidiacono nine points and four rebounds.

MELBOURNE TIGERS 69 (Wilson 15, Purchase 13, Gaze 9, Arcidiacono 9)

FRANKSTON BLUES 89 (Garrett 17, Monaghan 17, Barker 15)