The road to Joondalup: NBL1 East

Heading into the Coles Express NBL1 National Finals, let's see how each team got there.

The Norths Bears and the Sutherland Sharks claimed the East titles in the Grand Final Series. 

NORTHS BEARS WRAP:

The Norths Bears caused an upset in the East women’s Grand Final, as they won the trophy over the 20-2 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. 

The Bears lost to the Sea Eagles earlier in the campaign and carried that chip on their shoulder into the Finals, and won the decider 71-56.

Quietly confident would describe Norths in their Finals series. After finishing third on the ladder, they worked hard to secure the championship. 

Finals MVP Jolene Anderson filled her stat line with 20 points, nine rebounds and four assists, adding two steals and one block to finish it off. Emily Simons was a powerhouse on defence with seven rebounds, and she also shot 60 percent from the field with 15 points. 

Now the Bears will take their bruising squad to face the Northside Wizards on Friday night, get your tickets below:

SUTHERLAND SHARKS WRAP:

A close finish in the NBL1 East men’s Grand Final saw the Sutherland Sharks take out the Maitland Mustangs by three points. 

Lochlan Hutchison was awarded Finals MVP with 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Marquel Beasley followed with 16 points, five rebounds and two important blocks. 

With doubt on whether the squad would make it this far, Sutherland went from finishing fifth on the ladder in the regular season to a rebirth in the Finals. They will now look to carry that momentum this weekend and shock the country. 

Watch the NBL1 National Finals Live & Free via Kayo Freebies.