NBL1 East Recap | Friday Round 5

What a night at Comets Stadium with Shyla Heal suiting up in a big win for the Sydney Comets women before Marquel Beasley played hero for the Sutherland Sharks in the men's clash as part of Friday night in the NBL1 East.

The Friday night women's NBL1 East action saw the Inner-West Bulls defeat the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders 71-41 while the Penrith Panthers beat the Hills Hornets 86-59, Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles beat the Norths Bears 73-70, and Sydney Comets downed the Sutherland Sharks 87-57.

In the men's fixtures, the Bulls defeated the Spiders 75-67 while the Hornets won big 107-67 against the Panthers, the Bears beat the Sea Eagles 78-55, and the Sharks won the thriller 87-86 against the Comets.

WOMEN

Dombkins dominates as Bulls open account for 2023

It was the battle of winless teams and it was the Inner West Bulls who opened their 2023 account beating the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders 71-41 on Friday night.

The Spiders were attempting to win their first ever NBL1 East game at home to the Bulls, but it wasn’t to be and Inner West quickly stamped themselves on the contest with 28 points to 14 in the opening quarter.

Over the second and third quarters, the Bulls outscored the Spiders 29 points to nine on the way to the eventual 30-point victory for their first win of the season.

Mikaela Dombkins proved the difference between the teams as she delivered 16 points, 25 rebounds, seven assists and two steals in the win for Inner West.

Leilani Mitchell added 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Bulls.

Keira Hudson finished with 15 points and three rebounds for Hornsby with Alicia Poto adding 11 points and 12 boards.

Former Opal Alicia Poto showing off the veterans touch on that triple ?

Watch #NBL1East via https://t.co/NEk1I7kIKG or the NBL1 App ? & ? pic.twitter.com/U92dqoll25

— NBL1 (@NBL1) April 14, 2023

Panthers impress with strong win over Hornets

The Penrith Panthers are working nicely into their first NBL1 East season with a strong 86-59 win against the Hills Hornets on the road on Friday night.

The Panthers extended their lead throughout the evening at Hills Basketball Stadium to end up beating the Hornets by 27 points to score their second win of the season.

There were plenty of standout performers for Penrith with Meg Jefferson top-scoring with 18 points, four steals and three rebounds.

Tahlia Tupaea added 17 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals, Chloe Williams 14 points and five assists, Frances Spadina 12 points and four boards, and Dominika Faber 12 points and two rebounds.

Taryn Mahoney finished with 14 points and six rebounds for the Hornets with Wendy Strong contributing nine points and five boards.

Sea Eagles claim a thriller over the Bears

The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles claimed a thrilling 73-70 victory on Friday night on the road to the Norths Bears.

Precious little separated the two teams all evening at North Sydney Indoor Sports Centre and with five seconds remaining, scores were tied at 70-70 and Antonia Henderson knocked down two clutch free-throws.

The Sea Eagles then got the stop up the other end with the Bears coming out of a timeout, and it was Henderson again sealing the victory at the foul line for the visitors.

Felicity Henderson delivered 16 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two assists for Manly-Warringah with Kim Hodge contributing 13 points and five boards, Bree Delaney 13 points and three rebounds, and Alex Delaney 10 points, seven boards, three steals and two assists.

Emily Simons delivered 23 points and seven rebounds for the Bears with Madeleine O'Hehir putting up 19 points, and Kate Seebohm dishing out 11 assists. 

Kate Seebohm threads the ?

NBL1 Friday Night Basketball is officially underway!

Watch #NBL1East via https://t.co/NEk1I7kIKG or the NBL1 App ? & ? pic.twitter.com/8SNBGHSAE1

— NBL1 (@NBL1) April 14, 2023

Heal joins Comets in big win over Sharks 

All eyes were on the Sydney Comets on Friday night with Shyla Heal suiting up for the first time and she helped her new team deliver the 87-57 victory against the Sutherland Sharks.

Fresh off an eventful WNBL season where Heal started off at the Sydney Flames but ended up being instrumental in the Townsville Fire winning the championship, Heal suited up for the Comets.

It had the added intrigue of her playing under Shelley Gorman who took over from her father Shane at the Flames along with her teammate Vanessa Panousis, but it all came together with the Comets.

Sydney cruised to the 30-point win at home against Sutherland with Heal putting up 17 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.

Jade Crawshaw added 28 points and 15 rebounds, Panousis 21 points and seven assists, and Dru Toleafoa 10 points, two rebounds and two assists.

Aliza Fabbro top-scored for the Sharks with 12 points while Emily Garland contributed 11 points, five rebounds and three assists.

MEN

Bulls keep Hornsby winless to open NBL1 East season

The Inner West Bulls continued their strong start to the NBL1 East season and kept the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders winless with the 75-67 road win on Friday night.

The Spiders came into the game at home having lost their first four matches in the NBL1 East and started well to lead 21-16 by quarter-time.

However, the Bulls turned the tide in the second quarter to take a 39-35 lead into half-time and then converting that into a hard earned eight-point victory.

Chris Bryant led the charge for the Bulls with 21 points, 10 rebounds and two steals with Alex Higgins-Titsha contributing 19 points, 10 boards, four assists, four steals and three blocks, and Blake Morrow 19 points, four assists and three rebounds.

Shareef Saipaia top-scored for Hornsby with 20 points and five assists with Tom Gillis adding 13 points and three boards, Patrick Fraser 14 points and three rebounds, and Peitok Machar eight points and 14 boards.

Hornets open account for 2023 in style

The Hills Hornets scored their first win of the NBL1 East season in the most emphatic way beating the Penrith Panthers 107-67.

The Hornets had lost their opening four matches of the season coming into Friday's clash at Hills Basketball Stadium, but they put up 32 points in the opening quarter to quickly take charge.

Hills went on to lead 62-33 by half-time before securing the eventual 40-point win against a Penrith team still chasing that elusive first win.

Ben Kearins delivered 30 points, six rebounds, five steals and three assists in the win for the Hornets while Paul Brotherson added 23 points with 5/6 shooting from three-point range.

Kaylis Beaumont-Tafua top-scored for Penrith with 13 points while Ammaron McCarthy added 12 points and four rebounds, and Preston Matia 11 points and three boards.

Bears too strong for Sea Eagles at home

The Norths Bears continued their strong start to the 2023 season beating the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 78-55 at home on Friday night.

It's been contrasting starts to the NBL1 East season for both teams and that continued at North Sydney Indoor Sports Centre with the Bears proving too strong winning by 23 points on the back of outscoring the Sea Eagles 47 points to 30 in the second half.

South East Melbourne Phoenix young gun Junior Madut put in a strong showing for the Bears with 24 points and six assists while Nathaniel Musters added 14 points and nine rebounds, Michael Golding 13 points, five boards, four assists and four steals, and Lewis Holey 10 points and 21 rebounds.

It was a tough loss for the Sea Eagles but Esiai Majur battled away for 11 points, three rebounds and two assists with Matthew Eldridge ending up with 10 points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots.

Beasley the hero as Sharks snatch thriller over Comets

It was the most heart stopping of finishes at Comets Stadium with Marquel Beasley the hero for the Sutherland Sharks in the 87-86 win against the Sydney Comets.

It was a terrific contest all evening and always felt destined to go right down to the wire, and that's exactly what happened.

On a frantic last possession, the Sharks had three looks at getting up a shot and eventually the in-bounds pass found Beasley, he drove it to the rack and finished strongly over his defender to give his team the one-point lead.

There was still time for a tip-in out of a timeout for Sydney up the other end, but Sutherland denied them a look at the rim for the heart stopping win.

Not only did Beasley hit the game winner, but put up 26 points, 10 rebounds and five steals in the win for the Sharks.

Lochlan Hutchinson also had 21 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals with Adrian Cabrera contributing 13 points, six rebounds and three steals, and Jordan Mitchell 10 points, five assists and three boards.

Archer Woodhill finished with 17 points and seven rebounds for the Comets, Matthew Wacher 16 points, seven assists and six boards, Johnny Crnogorac 15 points and 15 rebounds, and Isaiah Oste-Pinder 10 points, four boards and three steals.

MARQUEL BEASLEY SCORES ON THE BUZZER FOR THE WIN??

The Sutherland Sharks walk out of Sydney with the 87-86 victory over the Comets.

Watch #NBL1East via https://t.co/NEk1I7kIKG or the NBL1 App ? & ? pic.twitter.com/LLdi5oA61B

— NBL1 (@NBL1) April 14, 2023