NBL1 South Recap | Saturday Finals Week 1

Marena Whittle ensured Ringwood Hawks stayed alive in NBL1 South, Anneli Maley helped Eltham Wildcats eliminate Frankston Blues with Sam Short lifting the Wildcats men, Sandringham Sabres upset Knox Raiders, and it was a stunning Mount Gambier Pioneers overtime win.

After the Geelong United Supercats beat the Mount Gambier Pioneers 86-76 in their women's NBL1 South qualifying final on Friday night, the Bendigo Braves also moved into a preliminary final beating the Waverley Falcons 75-64 on Saturday.

The women's elimination finals saw the Eltham Wildcats defeat the Frankston Blues 75-53 and the Ringwood Hawks beat the Sandringham Sabres 81-56.

The men's elimination finals saw the Diamond Valley Eagles beat the Nunawading Spectres 89-82 and the Eltham Wildcats defeat the Waverley Falcons 97-68.

The qualifying finals saw the Sandringham Sabres beat the Knox Raiders 97-90 and the Mount Gambier Pioneers win 97-96 against the Frankston Blues.

NBL1 SOUTH RECAP | FRIDAY FINALS WEEK 1

WOMEN

Eighth seeded Wildcats eliminate Blues

The Frankston Blues only narrowly missed a top four finish to earn a double chance but now their NBL1 South season is over after a dominant 75-53 road victory from the Eltham Wildcats on Saturday night.

The Blues had shaken off losing three of the first four games of the season to win 10 of the next 11 to be right on track for at least a top four finish before dropping three in the last seven saw them sip to fifth spot at 15-7.

They still got to host an elimination final at Dreamstreet Lending Arena against the eighth ranked Wildcats who just slipped in at 12-10.

Things then went to script in the opening period with Frankston leading 19-10 by quarter-time but the game underwent a dramatic transformation the rest of the way.

Eltham caught fire and delivered 28 points to 14 in the second quarter to go into half-time leading 38-33 and then the Wildcats dominated the second half.

The Wildcats would outscore the Blues 15 points to six in the third quarter and 22 to 14 in the fourth to lead by as much as 24 and to end up winning by 22.

It was a stunning performance from the eighth seeded Eltham to see them now advance to a semi-final against the Waverley Falcons next Sunday. The season that promised so much for Frankston is now over.

Anneli Maley was superb once more for Eltham on the back of playing with the Australian Opals at the FIBA Asia Cup and ahead of joining the Perth Lynx in the WNBL. She delivered 22 points, 14 rebounds and six assists.

Captain Bec Pizzey also produced 20 points and five rebounds with Hailey Leidel adding 13 points and six boards, and Louise Forsyth 11 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

It was a tough shooting night for Frankston who went 26.9 per cent from the field as a team and 6/32 from three-point range. Chelsea D'Angelo top-scored with 15 points on 3/6 three-point shooting with Lou Brown adding 11 points and 14 rebounds, and Chloe Bibby 11 points and eight boards.

Anneli Maley slices and dices the defence for 2??

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Whittle ensures reigning champs stay alive

The defending NBL1 South champion Ringwood Flames kept their title defence alive with an emphatic 81-56 victory on the road to the Sandringham Sabres on Saturday night.

The Sabres earned the right to host the elimination final at Southern Basketball Stadium finishing the regular season in sixth place at 13-9 while Ringwood ended up seventh on the same record.

That set the stage for what should have been a fascinating battle but the Hawks are coming off that championship triumph last year along with reaching the Grand Final of the National Finals, and weren’t going to bow out in the first round.

Ringwood went on to open up a 25-17 lead by quarter-time before strengthening their advantage further the rest of the evening to lead by 17 points in the second stanza, 23 in the third and 26 in the fourth.

That saw the Hawks end up winning by 25 points to move into a semi-final on Friday night away to the Mount Gambier Pioneers while the season of the Sabres is now over.

Reigning Grand Final MVP Marena Whittle was outstanding in the win for Ringwood with 23 points, 13 rebounds and four assists on 9/17 shooting from the floor and 4/9 from three-point range.

Marta Hermida added 18 points, five boards, three assists and three steals, Ariel Jones 16 points, four rebounds and three steals, and Piper Dunlop 10 points and six boards.

Klara Wischer ended up top-scoring for the Sabres with 17 points, 13 rebounds and three steals with Britt Smart adding 13 points and two assists, and Eilidh Simpson nine points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Braves stay perfect with win over Flames

The perfect 2023 NBL1 South season of the Bendigo Braves has continued into the start of the finals with a 75-64 home quarter-final victory against the Waverley Falcons.

The Braves went through the regular season winning all 22 of their matches on the back of making last year's grand final which saw them book in a home quarter-final against the fourth placed Falcons at Red Energy Arena.

It was a tight contest for the first quarter and-a-half with scores level at 16-16 at quarter-time and the Falcons even briefly led early in the second stanza.

However, Bendigo then took over scoring 11 straight points and that saw them go into the half-time break leading 42-30.

The Braves retained control throughout the second half to lead by as much 17 points in the third term on the way to the eventual 11-point victory.

The win sees Bendigo advance straight to a home preliminary final in a fortnight while the Falcons will look to make the most of their double chance by hosting the Eltham Wildcats in a semi-final next Sunday.

Megan McKay continued her stunning season for Bendigo with another 27 points, 10 rebounds and two steals on shooting 12/15 from the floor.

Amy Atwell added another 21 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, Cassidy McLean nine points, five boards and four assists, Kasey Burton seven points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two steals, and Kelly Wilson four points, 11 assists, four rebounds and three steals.

Bec Cole top-scored for Waverley with 22 points, three rebounds and three assists with Renae Mokrzycki adding 10 points, five boards and two steals, and Maddi Utti 10 points, six steals, five assists and three rebounds.

MEN

Eagles stay alive with road win over Spectres

Ngor Manyang came up huge for the Diamond Valley Eagles as he helped lead his team to the 89-82 road elimination final victory against the Nunawading Spectres.

The seasons of both the Spectres and Eagles went on the line when they did battle at Nunawading Basketball Centre on Saturday night with Nunawading having finished the season in sixth spot at 13-9 and Diamond Valley seventh at 12-10.

So not much separated the two teams all season and the same was the case for the elimination final contest.

Nunawading started the game well on their home floor with 27 points to 16 in the opening quarter with that lead for the Spectres growing to 14 in the second stanza.

However, Diamond Valley hit back to score 12 consecutive points to end up putting 31 on the board in the second term to go into half-time leading 47-46.

The game might have been evenly posed at half-time, but Diamond Valley opened up a seven-point lead in the third quarter, and then after Nunawading fired back, the Eagles went out to that seven-point edge again and ended up winning by that margin.

The Eagles will now advance to a semi-final against the Frankston Blues next Saturday while the season is over for the Spectres.

Ngor Manyang showed his championship credentials having previously won a title out west with the Warwick Senators, and he led Diamond Valley to the win with 24 points, two rebounds and two steals including hitting 4/11 from outside the three-point arc.

Desmond Owili added 20 points, nine rebounds and two assists for the Eagles, BJ Symons 11 points, five boards and two assists, Joel Capetola nine points, six assists, four rebounds and two blocks, and Ben Allen nine points and three steals.

It was a disappointing way for Nunawading's season to end but Kingsley Box did all he could with 25 points, six rebounds and three steals with 6/15 three-point shooting. 

Will Carius added 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks, and Josh Tomasi 11 points, six boards and three blocked shots.

Desmond Owili said NO WAY ?

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Short fires Wildcats to big win over Falcons

The Eltham Wildcats only narrowly missed a top four position but they continued their hot form to open the finals on Saturday night with the 97-68 home elimination final win against the Waverley Falcons.

Eltham finished the NBL1 South regular season in fifth position with a 14-8 record having won their past three matches as they played host to the eighth ranked Falcons on Saturday night in the elimination final.

The Wildcats opened the game on fire to lead by 15 points already in the first quarter and they never looked back the rest of the night.

Eltham would end up leading by 28 points in the second quarter, 29 in the third and 33 in the fourth to end up winning by 29 to advance to a semi-final with the Knox Raiders next Saturday. 

The season is over for the Falcons with a three-game losing streak.

Sam Short was the star of the elimination final win for Eltham finishing with 25 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and two steals on the back of shooting 10/17 from the floor and 5/9 from behind the three-point line.

He had plenty of support too with Callum Dalton putting up 21 points and nine rebounds, and Josh Sykes 17 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

Angus Glover added 14 points, 10 rebounds and two assists, and Owen Foxwell nine points, six assists and three steals.

Dillon Stith finished with 21 points, four rebounds and two steals for Waverley with Dexter Kernich-Drew contributing 11 points, five boards and two assists, and AJ Harris 10 points, five assists, four steals and two rebounds.

ANGUS GLOVER WITH A GROWN MAN'S JAM ?

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Sabres stun Raiders to book preliminary final spot

They were the hottest team in the NBL1 South coming into the playoffs but the Sandringham Sabres snapped the winning run of the Knox Raiders with the 97-90 qualifying final victory.

Knox finished up as the regular season champions with an 18-4 record with a 10-game winning streak to be two games clear in top spot as they earned the right to host the Sabres in the qualifying final at the State Basketball Centre.

The Sabres had only won two of their last five matches to enter the finals from fourth position, but they were a motivated outfit from the outset on Saturday ending up leading by three points at quarter-time.

The Sandringham lead grew to 12 points during the second quarter but by half-time the Raiders had hit back to bring the deficit back to just three.

It was still a three-point lead for Sandringham at three quarter-time and from there they were able to open up a 10-point advantage once more, and to end up claiming the seven-point victory.

The result means that Sandringham will now host a preliminary final in two weeks' time while Knox will have to back up on Saturday night in a semi-final with the red hot Eltham Wildcats.

Ben Ayre delivered 23 points, 12 assists and four rebounds in the win for Sandringham with CJ Asuncion-Byrd adding 24 points, four boards and two assists, and Tom Koppens 19 points and six rebounds.

Dane Pineau also had 14 points and nine rebounds on 7/10 shooting with Campbell Blogg putting up 11 points, four boards, four assists and two steals.

Ke'Jhan Feagin did all he could to lift Knox to the win finishing with 34 points, seven assists and four rebounds on shooting 14/28 from the floor and 4/8 from behind the three-point line.

Wayne Stewart Jr added 21 points and three rebounds on 10/12 shooting with Mason Peatling adding 14 points and five boards, and Deng Acouth six points and 11 rebounds.

Pioneers with dramatic OT win over Blues

Only a split second ended up separating the two teams in a remarkable qualifying final battle on Saturday night with the Mount Gambier Pioneers ending up beating the Frankston Blues 97-96.

It was the most dramatic of finishes at Dreamstreet Lending Arena with the Pioneers leading by two when Daniel Trist was fouled with 4.1 seconds remaining.

He made the first at the line for the Blues and then after he missed the second, the ball bobbled around and eventually Trist was able to put the ball back in the hole. The decision then needed to be made if he got it off before time expired or not.

Eventually after a video review, the officials decided he didn’t and the Pioneers players celebrated amidst the boos coming down from the Frankston faithful.

The two teams were battling over advancing straight to a home preliminary final with Frankston having finished the regular season second at 16-6 and the Pioneers third at 15-7.

The Blues started on fire to race to a 16-point lead in the opening quarter and they were able to maintain a double-figure lead over the next two quarters, and still to be leading by 10 at three quarter-time.

However, Mount Gambier wouldn’t be denied and came out with the opening eight points of the last quarter to set up the thrilling finish.

Coming down to the dying stages and Austin Shelley hit a massive three for Mount Gambier to put the visitors up two. The Blues had possession out of a timeout and Lucas Barker found Daniel Trist and he found a wide open lane to the basket to level scores up.

The Pioneers couldn’t get a good look at the winner and the game went to overtime where Mount Gambier went out to an early five-point advantage, and they were then still leading by two before that most dramatic of finishes.

The one-point win means Mount Gambier will host a preliminary final in two weeks' time while Frankston have to back up in a semi-final next Saturday night against the Diamond Valley Eagles.

Nick Marshall finished with 34 points, six rebounds and four assists in the eventual win for Mount Gambier on the back of shooting 15/30 from the field despite going 2/10 from three-point territory.

Austin Shelley added 19 points, three boards and two steals, Titus Robinson 16 points, 10 boards and two steals, Dylan Marshall 11 points and four rebounds, and Tom Kubank nine points, seven boards and three assists.

Daniel Trist was almost the hero for Frankston and finished the night with 24 points, 12 rebounds and three assists with Brad Newley contributing 23 points, six boards and three assists, Lucas Barker 13 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, and Lachlan Barker 10 points and nine assists.