South Recap | Round 7 Friday

Image credit: MJB Photography

The Hobart Chargers scored a pair of home NBL1 South wins over the Eltham Wildcats while Geelong United women stayed undefeated and the Knox Raiders men maintained their hold on top spot.

SOUTH RECAP | ROUND 6 SUNDAY

WOMEN

Hobart Chargers (82) defeated Eltham Wildcats (77)

The Hobart Chargers were back home and returned to the winner's list with to open the weekend's action with the 82-77 win against the Eltham Wildcats.

The Chargers were back home at Hobart Netball and Sports Centre having lost at home last week also to the Nunawading Spectres ahead of hosting a Wildcats team starting their Tasmanian road double on a four-match losing run.

Eltham made a hot start to the contest away from home knocking down six three-pointers in the first quarter on the way to a 25-20 lead by quarter-time.

The lead for the Wildcats got out to 11 points in the second term and then even after an 8-0 scoring run from the Chargers, the visitors still went into the half-time break leading 42-36.

The shooting went cold for Eltham in the third quarter and they made just 4/18 overall with 2/12 of those from behind the three-point arc while the Chargers were able to put up 23 points to 13 to grab the lead.

Hobart were able to complete the job from there to score the five-point victory even while only shooting 39 per cent from the field and giving up 19/50 from three-point range to Eltham.

However, the Chargers did go 18/23 at the foul line to 6/11 from an Eltham team who saw 50 of their 78 shot attempts all from beyond the arc.

Sharna Thompson top-scored in the win for Hobart with 21 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists despite only shooting 4/19 from the field but going 9/10 at the foul line.

Tayla Roberts added 19 points, 16 rebounds and two assists, Chelsea D'Angelo 13 points, five boards and four assists, Kayla Steindl 14 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two steals, and Ellie Collins 11 points and six assists.

Eltham has now lost five straight to be 2-7 on the season with Taylah Short finishing with 21 points on 7/17 three-point shooting while Lil Dart made 5/8 for 17 points and three assists.

Jayde Cadee also knocked down 5/9 for 15 points with Kennedy Dickie contributing 13 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

HOBART CHARGERS 82 (Thompson 21, Roberts 19, Steindl 14)

ELTHAM WILDCATS 77 (Short 21, Dart 17, Cadee 15)

Knox Raiders (71) lost to Geelong United (89)

Double doubles from Jaz Shelley and Hannah Hank helped to keep Geelong United undefeated this season with the 89-71 road win against the Knox Raiders.

Geelong put their undefeated record after the first eight games of the season on the line against the second ranked Raiders at the State Basketball Centre in what had all the hallmarks of the game of the season to date.

United had the better of the start going on an early 10-0 run to lead by nine points but then Knox responded with nine straight of their own and by quarter-time it was United just clinging to a two-point lead.

Geelong managed another 10 consecutive points in the second term too and this time built a lead as big as 16 points which they were able to retain to a large to degree to go into the half-time interval leading 47-34.

That lead ballooned to 24 points in the third quarter too with Geelong catching fire from beyond the arc going 7/12 to outscore the Raiders 28 points to 18.

The Raiders did manage to go on a 10-0 run in the final term but Geelong still was able to cruise to the 18-point victory to improve to a perfect 9-0 record to start the season.

Jaz Shelley produced 22 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and there steals for Geelong with 4/11 shooting from downtown while Hannah Hank delivered 17 points and 10 boards.

Lilly Rotunno added 13 points, nine assists, three rebounds and two steals, and Annika Stewart 15 points, four boards and two steals.

It's just a second loss of the season for Knox who are now 7-2 as a result with Alicia Froling finishing with 23 points and eight rebounds on 8/12 shooting from the floor and 7/10 at the free-throw line.

Paige Bradley also had 15 points, six assists and four rebounds, Emily Fisher 11 points and two assists, and Paige Burrows 11 points on 3/5 three-point shooting.

KNOX RAIDERS 71 (Froling 23, Bradley 15, Fisher 11, Burrows 11)

GEELONG UNITED 89 (Shelley 22, Hank 17, Stewart 15)

MEN

Hobart Chargers (89) defeated Eltham Wildcats (69)

Jacob Richards put in a dominant display and flirted with a triple-double as the Hobart Chargers snapped a losing slide with the 89-69 home win over the Eltham Wildcats.

The Chargers were back home at Hobart Netball and Sports Centre having lost their past four matches including by a point also at home last Friday night to the Nunawading Spectres.

The Wildcats as defending championships started their road double in Tasmania looking to improve on their 4-4 record but they had to do it without the presence of big man and human highlight reel Josh Sykes after he was handed a one-game suspension during the week.

It was just a one-point lead the way of the Chargers by quarter-time before the home team got on top in the second term thanks to going on a run of scoring 15 consecutive points.

Hobart show 11/17 from the field as a team in the second term while the Wildcats went at 4/17 which meant the Chargers outscored them 26 points to 13 to be on top 52-38 at half-time.

It was another 19 points to 12 in the third term and from there Hobart were able to secure the 20-point victory on the back of shooting 52 per cent from the field and going 16/25 at the free-throw line opposed to the 36 per cent for Wildcats who went just 12/16.

The Chargers improve to a 5-5 record as a result of the win with Jacob Richards finishing with 21 points, eight rebounds and eight assists on 8/15 shooting from the floor, 3/6 from downtown and 2/3 at the foul line.

Ole Angerstein enjoyed not having to go up against Josh Sykes and had 16 points, five rebounds and four blocked shots with Ambros Eugster adding 14 points, three boards and three assists.

Henry Makeny also had 12 points and seven rebounds for Hobart, Jordan Straatsma 11 points and four boards, and Will Cranston-Lown 10 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.

The defending champion Wildcats are now 4-5 following the loss with Gabe Hadley finishing with 20 points while Xavier Bledson added 18 points, four rebounds and four steals, and Mitch McCarron 10 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals fresh off announcing his NBL retirement.

HOBART CHARGERS 89 (Richards 21, Angerstein 16, Eugster 14)

ELTHAM WILDCATS 69 (Hadley 20, Bledson 18, McCarron 10)

Knox Raiders (97) defeated Geelong United (76)

The Knox Raiders and Keli Leaulepe were able to limit the influence of Tristan Forsyth for Geelong United and went on to score the dominant 97-76 home win to open Round 7 on Friday night.

The Raiders entered the match up at the State Basketball Centre still as the only men's team with just the one loss so far for the season as they regained Sydney Kings powerhouse Leaulepe from Australian Boomers duties last week in the Trans-Tasman Throwdown.

Knox had won their past three games since their lone loss of the season to the Casey Cavaliers while Geelong arrived fresh off beating the Dandenong Rangers to improve to a 4-4 record.

The Raiders came out of the blocks on fire with shooting 11/19 in the first quarter including going 5/8 from deep while Geelong only managed to shoot 6/17.

As a result it was Knox on top 27-12 by the end of the first quarter before the Raiders added another 21 points to 16 in the second term to go into half-time leading 48-28.

Even with Knox knocking down 5/9 from three-point territory again in the third quarter, Geelong ended up outscoring them 28 points to 24, but the Raiders remained in control and went on to score the eventual 21-point victory.

Knox ended up shooting 14/32 from downtown to improve to 8-1 on the season with Keli Leaulepe returning and delivering 24 points, eight rebounds and three assists on 9/14 shooting from the field, 3/4 from downtown and 3/4 at the foul line.

Sunday Dech also had 19 points, four assists and three rebounds, Brody Nunn 17 points, two assists and two steals, Ade Murkey 11 points, four rebounds and four assists, Norvel Pelle 10 points, six boards and three blocks, and Tad Dufelmeier nine points, six rebounds and five assists.

Geelong now slips to 4-5 on the season ahead of an away tripe to the Mount Gambier Pioneers on Sunday after Liam Herbert top-scored with 21 points, three rebounds and two assists while making 5/10 from downtown.

Tristan Forsyth had a tougher offensive night shooting 7/18 for 14 points, eight rebounds and six steals with DeMarcus Gatlin adding 13 points, eight boards and eight assists, and Owen Odigie nine points and three rebounds.

KNOX RAIDERS 97 (Leaulepe 24, Dech 19, Nunn 17)

GEELONG UNITED 76 (Herbert 21, Forsyth 14, Gatlin 13)