South Recap | Semi Finals

Image credit: Shane Panther | @shanejpg.sport

Harry Froling and Melbourne Tigers completed a miraculous fightback finishing with a 13-2 run to beat Kilsyth Cobras while there were semi-final NBL1 South wins for Diamond Valley Eagles and Keilor Thunder women, and Sandringham Sabres men.

SOUTH RECAP | FINALS WEEK 1 SUNDAY

SOUTH RECAP | FINALS WEEK 1 SATURDAY

POTTER FINDS HER BASKETBALL HOME IN GEELONG

NBL1'S UNBEATEN OUTFITS ON NATIONALS COLLISION COURSE

NEWLY RETIRED PINEAU FOCUSED ON SABRES SUCCESS

WOMEN

Dandenong Rangers (73) lost to Diamond Valley Eagles (82)

Despite Nyadiew and Manuela Puoch combining for 40 points for the Dandenong Rangers, the Diamond Valley Eagles proved too strong with the 82-73 semi-final victory.

The Rangers finished the regular season in third position with a 16-6 record before losing a tight qualifying final battle to the Knox Raiders last Saturday.

They had still earned the right to host the semi-final match up at Dandenong Basketball Stadium with the Eagles arriving fresh off beating the Frankston Blues in an elimination final and having welcomed back Steph Reid and Abbey Ellis from the Australian Opal's triumphant Asia Cup team.

Even with Diamond Valley coming into the game with a star-studded roster, they were only narrowly leading 22-21 by the end of the first quarter.

Dandenong then scored five straight points in the second term to end up spending three minutes in the lead, but the Eagles were back on top by half-time leading 41-36.

It was then another 25 points to 16 from Diamond Valley in the third quarter with the lead getting out to as much as 15 points, and then the Eagles withstood the late charge from the Rangers on their home floor to secure the nine-point victory.

Diamond Valley now advance to a preliminary final next Saturday night against the undefeated Geelong United with the winner to advance to the grand final.

Abbey Ellis produced 20 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in the win for Diamond Valley with 4/11 three-point shooting.

Lara McSpadden also ended up with 17 points, six boards, four assists, three steals and two blocks for the Eagles with Erin Riley contributing 16 points, six rebounds and two assists, Steph Reid 12 points and seven assists, and Tayha Watkins nine points, six boards and three assists.

The season is now over for Dandenong with Nyadiew Puoch finishing with 23 points, seven rebounds and three assists while her younger sister Manuela had 17 points and four rebounds.

Georgia Booth also had 14 points, seven rebounds and two assists for the Rangers with 4/10 three-point shooting while Amber Smith contributed seven points, four boards and three assists.

DANDENONG RANGERS 73 (N Puoch 23, M Puoch 17, Booth 14)

DIAMOND VALLEY EAGLES 82 (Ellis 20, McSpadden 17, Riley 16)

Keilor Thunder (86) defeated Waverley Falcons (81)

Waverley beat Keilor in last year's NBL1 South grand final and now the Thunder have earned a measure of revenge on the Falcons by ending their 2025 season with the 86-81 semi-final win.

After both teams did battle in last year's grand final with Waverley having come from seventh at the end of the regular season not only to end up as NBL1 South champions but also winning the National Finals on the Sunshine Coast, they have looked like capable of contending once more for most of 2025.

Keilor did lose their grip on a top two spot losing their last four games of the regular season in the absence of Maddy Rocci and Issie Bourne but they did still finish fourth before a loss last week in the qualifying final to the undefeated Geelong United.

Waverley, meanwhile, ended the regular season on the same 16-6 record but were fifth ahead of beating the Ringwood Hawks in an elimination final last Sunday.

That set up a grand final rematch from last year in the semi finals of 2025 at Keilor Stadium and on their home floor, the Thunder got the better of the start to lead 27-21 by quarter-time.

It was another 27 points to 23 in the second frame which saw Keilor leading 54-44 by half-time with 7/11 three-point shooting to just the 2/9 from the Falcons.

Waverley managed to score 10 straight during the third quarter and when Katelyn Shumate hit a pull up jumper the scores were all level and the Falcons had the momentum.

Keilor responded with the last six points of the third term with a three-point play from Maddy Rocci and a three ball from Issie Bourne.

When Bourne drained another triple early in the fourth the lead for Keilor was back out to 12 but Waverley responded with another run of 11 points including three-point makes from Bec Cole and Jenna Batsch (two) to once again tie scores up with five minutes on the clock.

Scores were still level a minute later before Keilor finished the better scoring seven of the game's last nine points with Penina Davidson icing the win at the foul line as they earned a measure of revenge by ending Waverley's season.

The win sees Keilor advance to a preliminary final against the Knox Raiders at Dandenong Basketball Stadium on Saturday night with the chance to make it to back-to-back grand finals.

The big guns of the Thunder all fired with Maddy Rocci delivering 28 points, nine assists, four rebounds and three steals with 3/5 three-point shooting and going 13/15 from the foul line.

Issie Bourne added 24 points, 10 rebounds and three assists with 4/7 three-point shooting while Penina Davidson contributed 18 points, nine boards and four assists, and Isobelle Wightman 12 points, four rebounds and two blocked shots.

The championship defence is over for Waverley who will still get to defend their National Finals crown in Canberra at the end of the month.

Katelyn Shumate finished with 23 points and eight rebounds on 10/16 shooting for the Falcons with Jenna Batsch adding 14 points and four boards, Bec Cole 13 points, two rebounds and two assists, Carley Ernst 12 points, 10 boards and three blocks, and Amelia Todhunter 11 points, two rebounds and two steals.

KEILOR THUNDER 86 (Rocci 28, Bourne 24, Davidson 18)

WAVERLEY FALCONS 81 (Shumate 23, Batsch 14, Cole 13)

MEN

Eltham Wildcats (75) lost to Sandringham Sabres (93)

The scorching form of the Sandringham Sabres continued on Saturday night as they won their way into the preliminary final with the 93-75 win over the defending champion Eltham Wildcats.

The Sabres finished the regular season in hot form winning 14 of the last 16 games after starting 2025 with six straight defeats before finishing in fifth position and then beating the Hobart Chargers in an elimination final.

That saw them set up a semi-final match up with the defending champion Wildcats who ended their regular season in fourth place with seven straight wins before a tight qualifying final loss to the Knox Raiders last Saturday night.

That meant that the two in-form teams locked horns at Montmorency Secondary College with both rightfully feeling as though they are championship contenders but one of their seasons would be over by the end of the night.

Sandringham made a flying start opening up a 13-point lead in the first quarter and going into quarter-time leading 25-15.

It was another 27 points 14 in the second term for the Sabres as they went into half-time on top 52-29 thanks to shooting 19/40 from the field opposed to the 9/34 from the Wildcats.

The lead for Sandringham grew to as much as 27 points in the second half and even though the Wildcats did cut the final margin to 18 by the final buzzer, it was a statement performance from the Sabres.

Sandringham now advance to the preliminary final on Saturday night on the road to the Mount Gambier Pioneers with a spot in the grand final on the line.

The Sabres did win without the same sort of heroics from Ben Ayre that he has been producing with the Tasmania JackJumpers guard shooting just 6/19 from the field for 15 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Malith Machar did fire, though, with 27 points on 6/10 three-point shooting with Tom Koppens contributing 14 points and six rebounds, Elliott Brown 10 points and two assists, Dane Pineau 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Fabijan Krslovic eight points, 20 boards and three assists.

Eltham's championship defence comes to an end with the straight sets exit with recently retired NBL veteran Mitch McCarron finishing with 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Xavier Bledson added 17 points with 3/4 three-point shooting while Sam Short added eight points, 11 rebounds and three assists, and Josh Sykes seven points, three blocks, two rebounds and two assists.

Gabe Hadley had a tough shooting night with 1/9 from the field on his way to six points.

ELTHAM WILDCATS 75 (McCarron 23, Bledson 17, Short 8)

SANDRINGHAM SABRES 93 (Machar 27, Ayre 15, Koppens 14)

Kilsyth Cobras (83) lost to Melbourne Tigers (84)

The Melbourne Tigers have pulled off the most remarkable of comebacks to pull off a miracle 84-83 win for the ages on the road to the Kilsyth Cobras to set up a preliminary final match up with the Knox Raiders.

Kilsyth were playing at home at Kilsyth Sports Centre and did appear to have the game in hand when leading by 18 points with two minutes to go in the third quarter.

What happened from there was the most remarkable turnaround with the Tigers outscoring the Cobras 36 points to 17 over the last 12 minutes including finishing the game with a 13-2 run to end up scoring the one-point victory.

It was a tight battle throughout the first half with Kilsyth leading by two points at quarter-time before going into half-time with the narrowest of 40-39 advantages despite shooting 12/33 from the field opposed to the 15/38 from the Tigers.

Kilsyth then took control in the third quarter and by the time Dillon Stith scored with two minutes to go, the margin was a game-high 18 points and the home team had all the momentum.

The Cobras were still leading by 14 points at three quarter-time but the Tigers did begin to gather momentum through the fourth quarter and there was some drama along the way too.

Mason Gaze was called for a blocking foul when ploughed into by Khadim Sy and the Tigers' tempers spilled over as a result leading to a technical and then the Cobras getting back possession.

Had that turned into a three or four-point play it might well have sealed the deal for Kilsyth, but they couldn’t fully capitalise even though they were still up by 10 points with just over four minutes to play.

It was still a 10-point lead when Adrian Tomada scored with 3:30 to go but Stith soon fouled out for Kilsyth and the Tigers refused to lie down.

Harry Froling hit a huge three ball a minute late to bring Melbourne back within five before Jack Purchase knocked down a pair of free throws and Tom Wilson scored going to the basket to make it a one-point game with 31 seconds to go.

That's where the drama went up another level when Adrian Tomada threw the ball out of bounds when trying to find Hamish MacDonald for the alley-oop.

Up the other end, Melbourne executed perfectly on the out of bounds play with Froling ending up rolling wide open for the layup to give the Tigers the one-point lead.

There was still time for Kilsyth out of a timeout with 10 seconds to go which saw Corey Jeffs miss his shot but MacDonald was then fouled on grabbing the offensive rebound.

He would go on to miss both at the stripe, Wilson grabbed the defensive rebounds and the Tigers had pulled off the heist of the season.

Melbourne finished the game on a 13-2 run to now head into a preliminary final next Saturday night at Dandenong Basketball Stadium with the Knox Raiders with a grand final spot up for grabs.

The remarkable comeback story of Harry Froling took another inspiring twist with him coming up huge in the comeback win on the way to 24 points, 10 rebounds and three assists with 10/14 shooting from the floor and 3/6 from downtown.

Tom Wilson also had 24 points 11 rebounds and six assists on 11/12 free-throw shooting while Jack Purchase delivered 21 points, five boards, three assists and two blocks, Michael Wearne seven points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals, and Mason Gaze six points, four boards and two assists.

It was a heartbreaking way for Kilsyth's season to end after leading by 18 points with 12 minutes to play and still 10 with 3:30 to go, but Dillon Stith fouling out proved pivotal after he had 10 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.

Adrian Tomada also ended up with 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists, Khadim Sy 18 points and five boards, Corey Jeffs 17 points, six rebounds and four assists, and Isaiah Harvey 10 points with 4/5 shooting.

KILSYTH COBRAS 83 (Tomada 21, Sy 18, Jeffs 17)

MELBOURNE TIGERS 84 (Wilson 24, Froling 24, Purchase 21)