NBL1 South Recap | Sunday Round 8

The Bendigo Braves women stayed perfect this NBL1 South season with another imposing win on Sunday while the men continued their best form of 2023 with the Waverley Falcons and Keilor Thunder splitting their match ups.

The two women's matches on Sunday in Round 8 of the NBL1 South saw the Bendigo Braves defeat the Ringwood Hawks 88-49 and the Waverley Falcons beating the Keilor Thunder 74-71.

Then in the men's match ups, Bendigo defeated Ringwood 107-93 and Keilor downed Waverley 92-77.

NBL1 SOUTH RECAP | SATURDAY ROUND 8

NBL1 SOUTH RECAP | FRIDAY ROUND 8

WOMEN

Perfect Braves dominate Whittle-less Hawks

The undefeated Bendigo Braves put on another spectacular performance at both ends of the floor on Sunday to beat the defending champion Ringwood Hawks 88-49.

The hopes of Ringwood handing Bendigo its first loss of the season weren’t helped with the absence of reigning Grand Final MVP Marena Whittle either at The Rings on Sunday in what was their only game of the weekend.

The Braves were fresh off beating the previously on fire Geelong United Supercats by 17 points on Saturday night as well before putting their perfect record on the road on Sunday.

Ringwood did well to stick with Bendigo in the opening quarter with the Braves only leading 24-23 after one, but Bendigo began to pull away in the second term.

The league-leaders went on a 12-0 scoring run to open up an 11-point edge to end up going into the half-time break leading 42-31.

Bendigo stretched that lead to 17 by three quarter-time and then dominated the final period with 26 points to just four from Ringwood to end up winning by 39 points.

The Braves improve to a perfect 12-0 record on the season with the win while the Hawks are now 7-5 in their championship defence.

Having recently re-signed with the Perth Lynx in the WNBL, Amy Atwell continued to shine for Bendigo putting up another 27 points, 14 rebounds and three assists on the back of shooting 10/24 from the field, 3/7 from beyond the arc and 4/4 at the charity stripe.

Megan McKay continued her dominance inside for the Braves with another 24 points and 14 rebounds on 9/15 shooting with Cassidy McLean adding 14 points and six boards, and the brilliant Kelly Wilson four points, nine assists, six rebounds and three steals.

Piper Dunlop was the only Ringwood player to score in double-figures putting up 13 points, three rebounds and two blocks.

Captain Jacqui Trotto added nine points and four rebounds, Toni Farnworth eight points, five boards and three assists, and Ariel Jones six points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals despite shooting 1/11.

Cole the hero with Falcons holding out brave Thunder

A stunning Bec Cole three-pointer with time running out delivered the Waverley Falcons with the 74-71 victory over a brave Keilor Thunder at Waverley Basketball Centre on Sunday.

It was the only game of the weekend for the second placed Falcons who had won their previous three matches coming into the contest against a Keilor team who battled hard the previous evening despite the eventual 18-point defeat to the Frankston Blues.

Despite falling down seven points early, Keilor had assumed the one-point lead by quarter-time but Waverley took back control in the second period with 23 points to 11 to head into the half-time break leading 40-29.

BEC COLE FOR THE WIN ?

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Even though the Falcons led by as much as 12 early in the second half, the Thunder were warming to the challenging despite having played the previous night up against a fresh Waverley opponent.

It was the Japanese pairing of Juna Umezawa and Ai Yamada who were leading the charge for Keilor as well as they fired back into the contest, and they even grabbed the lead with just under seven minutes to play when Umezawa stepped out to drain a three ball.

The lead continued to exchange hands between the two teams from there and with just over a minute to play after Waverley threatened again to open up a match-winning edge, Keilor was back level with a three-point bomb from Eva Kristjansdottir.

That set up the grandstand finish and who else, but Bec Cole stepped up to hit the game winning just about walk off three-pointer for Waverley to secure the three-point win.

As a result, the Falcons improve to an 11-1 record on the season having now won four in-a-row while Keilor is 3-9 despite the encouraging weekend even with the two defeats.

On top of hitting the game winning shot for Waverley, Bec Cole had a huge afternoon for the Falcons finishing with 24 points and six assists.

She had plenty of help too with Carley Ernst finishing with 16 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots, Renae Mokrzycki 14 points and 13 boards, Amelia Todhunter seven points, five assists, four steals and three rebounds, and Sophia Locandro seven points and six boards.

Juna Umezawa finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds for Keilor with Lana Hollingsworth contributing 15 points and eight boards, Eva Kristjansdottir 13 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals, and Ai Yamada 11 points and seven boards.

Carley Ernst is feeling it from long range?

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MEN

Braves continue best form of season with win over Hawks

The Bendigo Braves have completed their best weekend of the NBL1 South season backing up Saturday's win by defeating the Ringwood Hawks 107-93 on the road on Sunday.

The Braves defeated the previously on fire Geelong United Supercats by 12 points on Saturday night in Bendigo to open Round 8 before heading to The Rings on Sunday to take on a fresh Hawks line-up coming off a win themselves last week against the Keilor Thunder.

Bendigo shot out of the blocks to lead 11-3 in just after two minutes after a three-pointer to Bijan Johnson who was fresh off a 38-point outburst the previous night in the win against the Supercats.

However, Ringwood responded by scoring the next 11 points before Bendigo steadied to take charge once more and went into the quarter-time break leading 28-20.

The Braves pushed their lead out to 17 points in the second period and remained in charge leading 54-42 at the interval.

Bendigo remained in control of the contest throughout the second half including leading by as much as 24 points in the fourth period before ending up winning by 14 away from home.

The Braves are now building some strong form not only with the two wins this weekend but having won four of their past six matches to improve to a 5-7 record. Ringwood slips to 4-8 with the defeat.

In between NBL seasons at the Cairns Taipans, Lat Mayen's form is building nicely now this season with Bendigo after he finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds and four assists while knocking down 4/6 from three-point and 10/15 overall from the floor.

Bijan Johnson backed up his huge performance the night before with another 23 points, three rebounds and three assists for the Braves including making 4/7 of his three-point attempts.

Luke Rosendale added 19 points, six rebounds, four assists, four blocks and two steals with Billy Smythe contributing 10 points and eight rebounds, and Christiaan Jones nine points, four boards, three assists and three steals.

Jonathan Lawton finished the afternoon with 26 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals for Ringwood while hitting 5/12 from downtown.

Harrison Sealey added 15 points, Luke Shelley 12 points, and Kyle Daggett 12 points, seven rebounds and two assists.

Kuany inspires Keilor to win over Waverley

Keilor Thunder snapped their four-game losing run in the NBL1 South by beating the Waverley Falcons 92-77 on Sunday with Kuany Kuany making an immediate impact.

Kuany has just joined Keilor for the rest of the NBL1 South season upon his return from the University of California where he was fresh off averaging 9.0 points and 3.9 rebounds a game in his senior year.

He played a limited part in the three-point loss to the Frankston Blues on Saturday night, but he came up huge in an increased role on Sunday against the Falcons at Waverley Basketball Centre.

Keilor defence ? Keilor offence

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With Kuany leading the charge, Keilor was able to open up a two-point lead by quarter-time and then put up 31 points to 24 in the second period to go into the half-time interval leading 49-40.

Waverley hit back in the third quarter with 27 points to 16 to grab the lead on their home floor, but Keilor was able to respond once more and dominate the fourth term.

The Thunder put up 27 points to 10 to turn that two-point deficit at three quarter-time into the 15-point win that improves them to a 5-7 record. With the loss, the Falcons are now 6-6 with their five-match winning streak coming to an end.

Kuany Kuany finished the afternoon with 23 points and two rebounds in the win for Keilor on the back of shooting 9/13 from the field and 4/7 from three-point range.

Cirkook Riak added 19 points, four rebounds and three assists as well for the Thunder while knocking down 5/9 from three-point land with Zac Triplett contributing 17 points, eight boards, two assists and two steals.

Dillon Stith kept his terrific form going for Waverley as he tries to earn another opportunity in the NBL finishing with 27 points, 13 rebounds and three assists on 11/22 shooting from the floor.

Dexter Kernich-Drew added 21 points, four rebounds and four assists, Tristan Forsyth 11 points and six boards, and AJ Harris eight points and eight assists.

Dillon Stith throws it down with authority ?

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