NBL1 South Recap | Thursday Round 1

Jack Davidson and Adam Thoseby combined for 14 threes and 61 points in a Thursday night NBL1 South win for the Ballarat Miners while there were also men's wins for the Kilsyth Cobras and Frankston Blues with women's victories for the Bendigo Braves, Frankston and Kilsyth.

There were three women's match ups to close the opening round on Thursday of NBL1 South with the Frankston Blues beating the Sandringham Sabres 76-65, the Kilsyth Cobras downing the Dandenong Rangers 85-58, and Bendigo Braves defeating the Ballarat Miners 95-64.

In the corresponding men's matches, Frankston defeated Sandringham 102-78, Kilsyth beat Dandenong 93-78 and Ballarat downed Bendigo 112-95.

WOMEN

Brown dominates as Frankston beat Sandringham

A monster performance from Louise Brown has helped the Frankston Blues open their account in the NBL1 South, beating the Sandringham Sabres 76-65 on the road on Easter Thursday.

Both teams lost their opening games of the first round on the weekend but it was the Blues who got on the board on Thursday night with the 11-point win at Southern Basketball Stadium.

The major difference in the game was the performance for Frankston of 26 points, 19 rebounds and three steals on the back of shooting 10/16 from the field with 6/7 free-throw shooting.

Micaela Cocks also had 16 points, five boards and three steals for the Blues, Chelsea D'Angelo 15 points and seven rebounds, and Ella Batish 12 points, three boards, three assists and two steals.

Klara Wischer ended the night with 16 points and 10 rebounds for Sandringham with Georgia Pineau contributing 14 points and eight boards, and Funda Nakkasoglu 13 points and three assists.

Ella Batish's clean hands get the Blues on the board! ?

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Cobras prevail in battle of unbeaten teams with Rangers

The Kilsyth Cobras kept their unbeaten start to the season going on Thursday and handed the Dandenong Rangers their first defeat with the 85-58 home victory.

The Cobras played host to the Rangers at Kilsyth Sports Centre with both teams winning on the opening weekend, but Kilsyth dominated over the first three quarters to lead by 29 points at three quarter-time before winning by 27.

Georgia Booth had a terrific evening for Kilsyth made up of 25 points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists on 8/17 shooting with 2/4 from beyond the arc and 7/7 at the foul line.

Isis Lopes contributed 15 points and six rebounds, Alexa Hart 12 points and eight boards, and Nikita Young 12 points and four assists.

Dandenong might have lost by 27 but Sarah Booth fought valiantly with 15 points, six rebounds and five assists. Holly Griffiths added 13 points and seven boards, and Luisa Fakalata 11 points.

Alexa Hart said you don't get those in the Cobras' house?

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McKay stars as Bendigo win in Ballarat

The Bendigo Braves also kept on winning to start the new season and handed the Ballarat Miners their first defeat with Thursday night's 95-64 road triumph.

Both teams won their first games of the season on the weekend but it was Bendigo who proved too strong at Selkirk Stadium on Thursday extending their lead all evening to hand the home team the 31-point defeat.

The Braves improved to 2-0 on the season with Megan McKay a dominant presence with 31 points, six rebounds and five assists on 13/17 shooting.

Madeline Sexton added 20 points, six boards, four assists and two steals, Kelly Wilson 15 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds, and Kasey Burton 12 points and three boards.

Abbey Wehrung top-scored for Ballarat with 14 points and nine rebounds with Kristy Rinaldi contributing 11 points and four boards.

MEN

Blues dominate Sabres on the road

The Frankston Blues kept their winning start going on Thursday night beating the Sandringham Sabres 102-78 on the road.

With Frankston starting the season with a win and Sandringham with a loss on the weekend, that trend continued at Southern Basketball Stadium with the Blues opening up a 58-41 lead by half-time before turning it into a 24-point victory.

Lucas Barker topped the scoring for Frankston with 23 points to go with nine rebounds, four assists and three steals on 9/16 shooting including 3/7 from beyond the arc.

Jordan Evans added 21 points and seven boards with 4/6 three-point shooting while Brad Newley contributed 17 points, Igor Hadziomerovic 17 points and six rebounds, and Daniel Trist 10 points and 15 boards.

Ned Dillon put up 22 points and five rebounds in the loss for the Sabres with new Perth Wildcats NBL signing David Okwera adding 16 points and 10 boards, and CJ Asuncion-Byrd 15 points.

Cobras too much for Rangers over first three quarters

The Kilsyth Cobras won their second straight game to open the NBL1 South season and handed the Dandenong Rangers their first loss with Thursday night's 93-78 triumph.

Kilsyth opened the game on fire at Kilsyth Sports Centre with 31 points to 12 in the first quarter and ended up leading by 31 points at three quarter-time. To Dandenong's credit they outscored the Cobras 31 to 15 in the fourth quarter, but still the Cobras won by 15.

Adrian Tomada finished up with 22 points, seven assists and five rebounds for the Cobras while Ben Ursich delivered 21 points, four assists and three boards, and Jamie Ahale 18 points and four rebounds.

There were encouraging signs especially late for the Rangers with Harry Bowater hitting 6/8 from downtown for 21 points with Mike Amius contributing 14 points, and Jesse Ghee 13 to go with four assists, three rebounds and two steals.

Mike Amius got ??? the way up there ??

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Miners beat Braves in a shootout 

In a game where 35 three-pointers were made and 74 attempted, the Ballarat Miners claimed the 118-100 home victory against the Bendigo Braves on Thursday.

The tone was set for the high-scoring affair from the outset with the two teams combining for 67 points in the opening quarter and the Miners narrowly leading 34-33.

Ballarat did begin to pull away in the second quarter to lead 63-56 by half-time, and then with Jack Davidson and Adam Thoseby lighting it up from long-range, the Miners pulled away through the second half to lead by as much as 24, and win by 18.

It was quite the offensive showcase throughout the night and by the finish, Ballarat shot 47.7 per cent from the field while hitting 20/44 from three-point land with Bendigo going at 50.7 per cent overall and making 15/30 of their three-point shots.

Despite the 74 three-point shots, it was still physical and heated game at times too, but ultimately the Miners had too much with Jack Davidson hitting 7/17 from long range for 32 points and five assists.

Adam Thoseby also hit 7/14 from three-point territory for 29 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals with Tyler Rudolph contributing 20 points and 11 boards, and Nic Pozoglou 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Isaac Turner also had a terrific shooting night going 6/11 from beyond the arc for Bendigo to finish with 26 points with Isaac Murphy adding 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Bijan Johnson 13 points and seven assists, Luke Rosendale six assists and five boards, and Adam Pechacek 11 points and six rebounds.