NBL1 South Recap | Friday Round 14

The two Tasmanian teams in the NBL1 South wrapped up their seasons on Friday night with the Hobart Chargers scoring a pair of wins firstly against the Launceston Tornadoes before the defending champions moved closer to the playoffs beating the North West Tasmania Thunder.

The two games on Friday night to open the last round of the 2023 NBL1 South season with the Hobart Chargers women beating the Launceston Tornadoes 83-69 before the Chargers men defeated the North West Tasmania Thunder 76-68.

WOMEN

Chargers finish season with win over Tornadoes

Hobart and Launceston wrapped up their NBL1 South seasons on Friday night with the Chargers beating the Tornadoes 83-69 at Hobart Netball and Sports Centre.

With both teams coming into the final round out of playoff contention, it was just pride on the line between the Tasmanian rivals with Launceston having opened the season beating Hobart at home by 39 points.

But this time around, Hobart started well to lead by as much as seven points in the opening quarter before extending that to nine in the second and 18 in the second half before ending up winning by 14. 

The victory means the Chargers finish the 2023 season with an 8-14 record while Launceston will end up only narrowly ahead at 9-13 having lost their past two matches.

There were plenty of impressive performances to close the season for Hobart with Cori Coleman leading the charge with 25 points, six assists and two steals on the back of hitting 5/11 from three-point land.

Kayla Steindl put in a big showing for the Chargers too with 19 points, 16 rebounds, three steals and two blocks, Sarah O'Neill 15 points, three assists and two boards, and Zoe Banks 17 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Olivia West delivered 22 points, seven rebounds and two assists with Micah Simpson contributing 11 points, five boards, five assists and three steals, and Sharna Appleby 11 points and five rebounds.

Zoe Drane threaded the needle ?

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— NBL1 (@NBL1) July 14, 2023

MEN

Chargers stay alive with fifth straight win

The Hobart Chargers did their part in beating the North West Tasmania Thunder 76-68 at home on Friday night ahead of now facing a nervous wait to see if they will get to defend their NBL1 South championship or not.

Coming into the last round of the regular season and all the Chargers could do was beat the Thunder at Hobart Netball and Sports Centre on Friday night to give themselves a chance.

Hobart had already won four straight matches to stay alive coming into the last round but a loss to the Thunder would have meant they were no chance of reaching the playoffs no matter what happened to the other teams the rest of the weekend.

North West Tasmania certainly wasn’t in the mood to hand Hobart anything. Even though the Chargers led by as much as 13 points early in the third quarter, the Thunder soon began to roll.

They ended up scoring 12 straight points to take a nine-point lead and to have thrown the challenge right back to the Chargers if they wanted to keep their season alive.

In the end Hobart did respond with their season on the line and outscored the Thunder 22 points to eight in the final period to end up winning by eight points.

The victory improves the Chargers to a 12-10 record and with the possibility of Eltham, Waverley, Nunawading, Diamond Valley and Ballarat all finishing on 12 wins as well by the end of the weekend, the finals spots will be determined by head-to-head records.

Meanwhile, North West Tasmania finishes the season with a 7-15 record having lost their past five matches.

Devin Watson was terrific once more for Hobart with another 31 points, six rebounds and two assists with reigning Grand Final MVP Sam McDaniel delivering 20 points, 12 boards and three assists. 

Jarred Bairstow added 11 points, seven rebounds, five steals and four assists, and Jacob Richards nine points, six boards and two blocked shots.

Vionte Daniels produced 25 points, three assists and two rebounds for North West Tasmania, Sekou Sylla 12 points, 15 boards and two assists, Cameron Brown nine points and five rebounds, and Ben Woolley nine points, four assists and two steals.

Ben Woolley can dance in the paint ?

Watch #NBL1South via https://t.co/NEk1I7kaV8 or the NBL1 App ? & ? pic.twitter.com/8hv7CVgwSh

— NBL1 (@NBL1) July 14, 2023