Recap NBL1 South | Round 1 Saturday

Angus Glover hit his first six threes for the Eltham Wildcats in the NBL1 South on Saturday with both Knox Raiders teams continuing to win as did the Bendigo Braves women and Kayla Steindl dominated for the Hobart Chargers.

Saturday night's women's NBL1 South results saw the Dandenong Rangers beat the Casey Cavaliers 80-64, the Knox Raiders defeat the Kilsyth Cobras 86-81, the Mount Gambier Pioneers down the Sandringham Sabres 85-68, the Diamond Valley Eagles win 97-90 against the Eltham Wildcats, the Hobart Chargers beat the Launceston Tornadoes 71-62, and the Bendigo Braves down the Waverley Falcons 92-67.

The men's results then saw the North West Tasmania Thunder beat the Chargers 85-61, the Rangers defeat the Cavaliers 94-65, the Raiders down the Cobras 109-83, the Pioneers defeat the Sabres 97-79, the Wildcats prevail 109-73 against the Eagles, and the Braves down the Falcons 90-73.

RECAP NBL1 SOUTH | ROUND 1 FRIDAY

RECAP NBL1 SOUTH | ROUND 1 WEDNESDAY

WOMEN

Casey Cavaliers (64) lost to Dandenong Rangers (80)

Nyadiew Puoch starred fresh off winning a WNBL championship to lead the Dandenong Rangers to their first win of the season, beating the Casey Cavaliers 80-64.

Dandenong opened their NBL1 South season with a 28-point loss to the Melbourne Tigers back on Thursday. They remained on the road on Saturday to take on the Cavs at Casey Stadium.

It was Casey's first appearance of the 2024 season and it was a tight contest in the opening period before Dandenong began to take charge in the second frame.

The Rangers put up 22 points to 12 for the quarter to go into half-time leading 43-31 before pushing that advantage out to as much as 24 points in the second half and winning by 16.

Nyadiew Puoch was just part of the WNBL championship at the Southside Flyers and started the NBL1 South season on fire with 26 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals on 9/12 shooting from the field and 8/13 from the foul line.

Manuela Puoch also had 18 points and nine rebounds with Dallas Loughridge contributing 16 points and three assists, and Amber Smith eight points and six rebounds.

Alex Wittinger has made the move south from the NBL1 North and had 24 points and 16 rebounds on debut for Casey with Sharne Robati adding 13 points and five boards, and Esra McGoldrick seven points and three rebounds.

Casey now take on the Ringwood Hawks away on Monday at 6pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. Dandenong will host the Eltham Wildcats on Wednesday.

CASEY CAVALIERS 64 (Wittinger 24, Robati 13, McGoldrick 7)

DANDENONG RANGERS 80 (N Puoch 26, M Puoch 18, Loughridge 16)

Kilsyth Cobras (81) lost to Knox Raiders (86)

Alicia Froling produced another dominant performance to lead the Knox Raiders to the 86-81 road victory over the Kilsyth Cobras.

The Raiders opened their NBL1 South season beating the Sandringham Sabres back on Wednesday while Kilsyth lost that same night away to the Ringwood Hawks.

So both teams had shaken off some of that rust already before meeting at Kilsyth Sports Centre, and it was a close first half with the Raiders leading by just a point at quarter-time, and then two points at half-time.

The Raiders stretched that lead to nine points in the third quarter but the Cobras fired back and hit the front thanks to a Georgia Booth three-pointer with just over three minutes to play in the contest.

However, from there Knox scored the last eight points in the final three minutes with four of those from Paige Bradley and the other four from Rachel Bell.

That saw the Raiders win by five with Alicia Froling again a dominant force with 33 points and 16 rebounds with 15/22 shooting from the foul line.

Kiera Rowe also had 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists, Paige Bradley 11 points and six assists, and Leah Santomaggio 10 points, three boards and two assists.

Georgia Booth put up 24 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals for Kilsyth with Nikita Young contributing 17 points, four boards, three assists and two steals, and Caitlin Cunningham 10 points and seven rebounds.

Kilsyth will play host to the Keilor Thunder on Thursday night at 6pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Raiders are away to the Ringwood Hawks also on Thursday.

KILSYTH COBRAS 81 (Booth 24, Young 17, Cunningham 10)

KNOX RAIDERS 86 (Froling 33, Rowe 14, Bradley 11)

Sandringham Sabres (68) lost to Mount Gambier Pioneers (85)

The Mount Gambier Pioneers opened their NBL1 South season with an impressive first up 85-68 win on the road to the Sandringham Sabres.

The Sabres had already played their season-opener back on Wednesday night in a narrow home loss to the Knox Raiders as they hosted the Pioneers on Saturday also at Southern Basketball Stadium.

Mount Gambier come into the new season after their 2023 season ended in a preliminary final loss to the Bendigo Braves, and for three quarters on Saturday night it was a tight battle with the Sabres.

There was nothing more to separate the two teams than six points through the first three quarters and at three quarter-time it was Mount Gambier clinging to the narrow 60-59 advantage.

But from there it was all the Pioneers as they produced 25 points to nine in the final period to end up opening their season with the 17-point win.

Coming off her standout season at the Townsville Fire in the WNBL, Zitina Aokuso was tremendous for Mount Gambier with 17 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and three blocks.

Sherrie Calleia also had 19 points, three rebounds and three steals with Isabella Brancatisano adding 17 points and seven boards, Haliegh Reinoehl 14 points and four rebounds, and Samantha Fatkin 14 points, six boards and three assists.

Klara Wischer produced 20 points and 14 rebounds for Sandringham with Funda Nakkasoglu contributing 17 points and four boards, and Isis Lopes 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

The road double for the Pioneers will wrap up on Sunday against the Waverley Falcons at 12:30pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. Sandringham hosts the Casey Cavaliers on Wednesday.

SANDRINGHAM SABRES 68 (Wischer 20, Nakkasoglu 17, Lopes 13)

MOUNT GAMBIER PIONEERS 85 (Calleia 19, Aokuso 17, Brancatisano 17)

Eltham Wildcats (90) lost to Diamond Valley Eagles (97)

Two teams making their first appearances of the season put on a show on Saturday at Montmorency Secondary College with the Diamond Valley Eagles beating the Eltham Wildcats 97-90 in the finish.

It was a first up game of 2024 for both teams on Saturday night and it was in the second quarter when Diamond Valley opened up a sizeable gap.

The Eagles went on a 14-0 run completed in the second period to open up an 18-point lead and to still be holding on to a 49-42 lead at half-time.

However, the Wildcats were working back into the contest and made things interesting down the stretch, but still Diamond Valley did enough to hold on for the season-opening seven-point win.

Carly Turner put in a standout performance in the win for the Eagles with 28 points, nine rebounds, four steals and two blocks with former WNBL import big Jennie Rintala delivering 21 points, 14 boards and four assists.

Gemma Potter also had 20 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and five steals, Eliza Bannan eight points and three boards, and Kara Wilson six points and six assists.

Hailey Leidel put up 25 points, five rebounds and four assists for Eltham with Lily Scanlon adding 22 points, seven assists and five boards, and Shannon Dufficy 19 points and eight rebounds.

The Wildcats back up to play away to the Frankston Blues on Sunday at 12:30pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Eagles will next be in action on Thursday also against Frankston.

ELTHAM WILDCATS 90 (Leidel 25, Scanlon 22, Dufficy 19)

DIAMOND VALLEY EAGLES 97 (Turner 28, Rintala 21, Potter 20)

Launceston Tornadoes (62) lost to Hobart Chargers (71)

Fresh off seeing her husband, Clint, captain the Tasmania JackJumpers to an NBL championship, Kayla Steindl sent a reminder what she's capable of in a 71-62 win for the Hobart Chargers over the Launceston Tornadoes.

The Tasmanian rivals opened their seasons against one another at Elphin Sports Stadium and for a lot of the contest it was the Tornadoes on top.

Launceston opened up a seven-point lead in the first quarter and then put up another 23 points to 13 in the second frame to lead by a game high 13 points at the half-time break.

Hobart took charge in the second half, though, and outscored Launceston 39 points to 17 after the break to overrun the Tornadoes and claim the season opening nine-point victory.

Kayla Steindl proved the major difference between the two teams with 26 points, 16 rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks for Hobart with Zoe Richards contributing 14 points and nine boards.

Cierra Walker also had 10 points, four rebounds and three assists, and Zoe Banks eight points, four assists and three steals.

Macey Crawford top-scored for Launceston with 15 points and seven rebounds while Ava McDonald contributed 11 points, and Sharna Appleby 10 points, six boards, three assists and two steals.

Both teams remain in Tasmania next Friday with the Chargers hosting the Rangers and Tornadoes at home to the Falcons at 6pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App.

LAUNCESTON TORNADOES 62 (Crawford 15, McDonald 11, Appleby 10)

HOBART CHARGERS 71 (Steindl 26, Richards 14, Walker 10)

Bendigo Braves (92) defeated Waverley Falcons (67)

The Bendigo Braves remain the benchmark team in all NBL1 competitions starting the 2024 season with two more Round 1 wins topped off by beating the Waverley Falcons 92-67 at home on Saturday.

The Braves went through all of last season undefeated not only winning the NBL1 South championship but also winning the NBL1 National Finals on the back of losing that Grand Final back in 2022.

That remains the last game they have lost and Bendigo started 2024 beating the Ballarat Miners on Wednesday before coming back home on Saturday to raise the championship banners.

The Braves were in front of their fans at Red Energy Arena and on an emotional evening, they wasted no time putting some distance between them and a Falcons team also a top four team last season.

Bendigo were up by 14 points already in the opening quarter with that lead was 47-33 by half-time, and growing to as much as 27 points during the second half and settling on 25 by the final buzzer.

Perth Lynx WNBL star Amy Atwell was again prolific for Bendigo with another 22 points and seven rebounds with shooting 4/10 from behind the three-point line.

Ally Wilson also had 19 points, seven rebounds and three steals with Megan McKay contributing 12 points and six boards, Cassidy McLean 11 points and seven rebounds, and the great Kelly Wilson nine points, nine assists, four rebounds and four steals.

Sharna Thompson top-scored for Waverley with 20 points on 4/9 three-point shooting with Amelia Todhunter adding nine points and eight rebounds, Orla O'Reilly nine points, and Renae Mokrzycki nine points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals.

Waverley returns home to host the Mount Gambier Pioneers on Sunday at 12:30pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Braves are next up away to the Geelong United Supercats on Friday.

BENDIGO BRAVES 92 (Atwell 22, A Wilson 19, McKay 12)

WAVERLEY FALCONS 67 (Thompson 20, Todhunter 9, O'Reilly 9, Mokrzycki 9)

MEN

Casey Cavaliers (65) lost to Dandenong Rangers (94)

Having plenty of strong contributors was key to the Dandenong Rangers beating the Casey Cavaliers 94-65 on the road on Saturday night.

Dandenong had already opened its season with a first up win away to the Melbourne Tigers on Thursday with the Cavs playing their first game of 2024 and doing so at Casey Stadium on Saturday.

Already having that win on the board 48 hours previous, the Rangers made a terrific start scoring 12 straight points to open up a 13-point lead on the Cavs and never look back.

Dandenong would go on to lead 48-33 by half-time with that advantage growing to 19 points in the third frame, 29 in the fourth and that would be the final margin.

The Rangers shot 53.7 per cent from the field as a team and had six players all scoring at least nine points and playing at least 21 minutes for the evening.

Brandon Betson top-scored in the end for Dandenong with 20 points on the back of knocking down 4/6 from three-point range.

Jacob Tryon added 19 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots with Mason Peatling contributing 14 points and 10 boards, Puoch Puoch 14 points and five rebounds, Tad Dufelmeier 11 points, five boards, four assists and three steals, and Jack Roberts nine points and four rebounds.

Dillon Stith put up 17 points and six rebounds for Casey with Devin Watson contributing 16 points, four boards, three steals and two assists, and Preston Bungei 14 points and two rebounds.

Casey now take on the Ringwood Hawks away on Monday at 8pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. Dandenong will host the Eltham Wildcats on Wednesday.

CASEY CAVALIERS 65 (Stith 17, Watson 16, Bungei 14)

DANDENONG RANGERS 94 (Betson 20, Tryon 19, Peatling 14, Puoch 14)

Kilsyth Cobras (83) lost to Knox Raiders (109)

The defending champion Knox Raiders continued their hot form to open the NBL1 South season beating the Kilsyth Cobras 109-83 on the road on Saturday.

On the back of winning not only the NBL1 South championship but also the NBL1 National Finals last year, Knox opened the 2024 season beating the Sandringham Sabres back on Wednesday night.

Kilsyth also played back on Wednesday and lost on the road to the Ringwood Hawks, and the Raiders took charge early and never looked back.

Knox built a nine-point lead during the opening period and that advantage grew to 15 during the second quarter, 18 in the third and 28 in the fourth before going on to record the 26-point victory for the 2-0 start to 2024.

Young gun Austin Rapp continued to show his emergence with 27 points and six rebounds on 9/15 shooting for the Raiders with KJ Feagin producing another 15 points and eight assists.

Kyle Bowen lined up again after just finishing with the NBL Championship Series for Melbourne United six days ago and had 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

Brody Nunn added 14 points, six assists and four rebounds for Knox, Malith Machar 11 points and four rebounds, and Javonte Perkins 10 points and two boards.

Bryce Davis top-scored for Kilsyth with 20 points and 12 rebounds with Adrian Tomada contributing 14 points and five boards, Kyle Adnam 12 points, four rebounds and three assists, Corey Jeffs 12 points and two assists, and Mitch Dielemans 10 points.

Kilsyth will play host to the Keilor Thunder on Thursday night at 8pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Raiders are away to the Ringwood Hawks also on Thursday.

KILSYTH COBRAS 83 (Davis 20, Tomada 14, Adnam 12, Jeffs 12)

KNOX RAIDERS 109 (Rapp 27, Feagin 15, Bowen 15)

Sandringham Sabres (79) lost to Mount Gambier Pioneers (97)

The Mount Gambier Pioneers opened their NBL1 South season beating the Sandringham Sabres 97-79 on the road on Saturday night.

The Pioneers were playing their first game of 2024 on the back of losing to the eventual National Champion Knox Raiders in last year's playoffs as they took on the Sabres at Southern Basketball Stadium.

Sandringham opened their season with a home loss to Knox on Wednesday but the Sabres only had eight players suiting up on Saturday and Mount Gambier produced an impressive opening to their campaign on the road.

After a high scoring opening quarter from both teams, the Pioneers blew the game open in the second quarter with 27 points to 11 including scoring 13 consecutive points to lead by as much as 19, and be up 55-36 by half-time.

It was an even scoring second half between the two teams but Mount Gambier had set the win up and went on to score the 18-point victory.

Akech Aliir top-scored for the Pioneers with 22 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots while hitting 3/6 from three-point territory.

Nick Marshall is coming off an NBL season at the Adelaide 36ers and had 20 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Christian Peevy contributed 19 points and four rebounds with Ausin Shelley adding 12 points, five boards, three assists and two steals, and Titus Robinson 10 points and six rebounds.

Campbell Blogg top-scored for the Sabres with 19 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals with Tom Koppens contributing 18 points, nine boards and three assists, and CJ Asuncion-Byrd 18 points and two rebounds.

The road double for the Pioneers will wrap up on Sunday against the Waverley Falcons at 2:30pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. Sandringham hosts the Casey Cavaliers on Wednesday.

SANDRINGHAM SABRES 79 (Blogg 19, Asuncion-Byrd 18, Koppens 18)

MOUNT GAMBIER PIONEERS 97 (Aliir 22, Marshall 20, Peevy 19)

Eltham Wildcats (109) defeated Diamond Valley Eagles (73)

Fresh off becoming an NBL free agent, Angus Glover came out like a man possessed to set up the Eltham Wildcats for the eventual 109-73 victory against the Diamond Valley Eagles.

Just over 12 months ago and Glover wrote himself into Sydney Kings folklore with his Game 5 heroics to secure a second straight championship, but things didn’t quite go as well this past NBL season for the crafty guard.

He ended up not seeing court time to close the season with the Kings and now has been released from his contract to join NBL free agency, and based on his performance for Eltham on Saturday night, he won't be short on suitors.

Glover came out a man possessed and knocked down the first six three-pointers that he attempted on the night and helped the Wildcats to a 44-point opening quarter against an Eagles team who could do little but watch the show.

The Eltham lead got out to 32 points in the second quarter, 34 in the third and 38 in the fourth before they secured the eventual 36-point win to open the new season in dynamic fashion.

Glover finished the night with 25 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals with Ralph Bissainthe adding 19 points, three boards and two steals.

Owen Foxwell also had 15 points and eight assists, Sam Short nine points, five rebounds and four assists, Zak Cunningham nine points and four boards, Josh Sykes eight points, two rebounds and two blocks, and Ovie Magbegor eight points, 11 boards and four assists.

Jock Perry put up 18 points and eight rebounds for Diamond Valley with BJ Symons contributing 13 points and six boards, and Erik Kafritsas nine points, two rebounds and two steals.

The Wildcats back up to play away to the Frankston Blues on Sunday at 2:30pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Eagles will next be in action on Thursday also against Frankston.

ELTHAM WILDCATS 109 (Glover 25, Bissainthe 19, Foxwell 15)

DIAMOND VALLEY EAGLES 73 (Perry 18, Symons 13, Kafritsas 9)

North West Tasmania Thunder (85) defeated Hobart Chargers (61)

It was a celebration of Tasmanian basketball on Saturday night and on the court it was the North West Tasmania Thunder beating the Hobart Chargers 85-61.

Just six days after the Tasmania JackJumpers produced a remarkable performance to win the NBL championship, the two Tasmanian NBL1 South teams opened their seasons on Saturday night with JackJumpers coach Scott Roth in town with the NBL championship trophy.

The two teams locked horns at Mazda BT-50 Thunder Stadium but it was North West Tasmania more ready for the season to get underway and that showed as the evening unfolded.

The Thunder opened up an eight-point lead late in the opening quarter and were still leading 39-35 by the half-time break.

Then in the second half, North West Tasmania outscored Hobart 46 points to 26 to claim the 24-point win and start the season in impressive fashion on the back of winning just seven games in 2023.

Paul Campbell put up 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunder with Seth Swalve adding 17 points and eight assists, and Jake Afoa 15 points, eight rebounds and three steals.

Isaac Atuer also contributed 11 points with Campbell Brown adding eight points, five rebounds and three assists, and Tre Armstrong five points, five boards, four assists and two steals.

Jacob Richards was part of that JackJumpers championship winning squad and he put in a strong showing for Hobart despite the result with 28 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

Zachary White also had 13 points, two rebounds and two blocks, and Vionte Daniels nine points and two boards.

Both teams remain in Tasmania next Friday with the Chargers hosting the Rangers and Thunder at home to the Falcons at 8pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App.

NORTH WEST TASMANIA THUNDER 85 (Campbell 18, Swalve 17, Afoa 15)

HOBART CHARGERS 61 (Richards 28, White 13, Daniels 9)