NBL1 North Recap | Saturday Round 5

The Logan Thunder women pulled off a miracle comeback over North Gold Coast Seahawks in the NBL1 North while Darwin Salties men produced a remarkable last seven minutes in Townsville, and Lamar Patterson helped South West Metro Pirates hand Mackay a first loss.

The Saturday night women's action saw the Darwin Salties defeat the Townsville Flames 66-63 while the Northside Wizards beat USC Rip City 78-61, the Brisbane Capitals downed the Sunshine Coast Phoenix 97-65, and the Logan Thunder defeated the North Gold Coast Seahawks 63-62.

The Southern Districts Spartans also beat the Gold Coast Rollers 86-80 while the Ipswich Force beat the Red City Roar 92-69, and the Mackay Meteorettes defeated the South West Metro Pirates 71-55.

In the corresponding men's match ups, the Salties beat the Townsville Heat 91-86 with the Wizards defeating Rip City 92-91, the Caps downing the Phoenix 84-80, Logan downing North Gold Coast 92-79, the Rollers beating the Spartans 101-82, Ipswich prevailing 94-84 against Red City, and South West Metro beating Mackay 97-87.

WOMEN

Salties stay unbeaten with win in Townsville

The Darwin Salties held out the fast finishing Townsville Flames to remain undefeated this NBL1 North season with the 66-63 road win.

Darwin played its first away game of the season on Friday night and kept its winning form going in Cairns ahead of taking on Townsville on Saturday with the defending champion Flames building momentum with the additions of Kate Gaze and Steph Reid in recent weeks.

It was a tight game most of the way at Townsville StarFM Stadium but the Salties put together a strong fourth quarter and had a double-figure lead throughout the second half.

Darwin would then hold out the fast finishing home team for the three-point win to improve to 5-0 on the season the Flames now 3-5 in their title defence.

Chelsea Brook ended the game with 16 points and 10 rebounds on 7/10 shooting for the Salties while Erin Bollmann produced 16 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, Catherine MacGregor 11 points and three assists, Ruby Porter 10 points and seven rebounds, and Tsubasa Nisbet 10 points and 13 boards.

Majella Carey put up 19 points and 10 rebounds for Townsville with Steph Reid delivering 14 points, seven boards, six assists and three steals, Indiah Bowyer 12 points, and Kate Gaze eight points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

Wizards improve to 6-0 win home win against Rip City

The Northside Wizards have kept their unbeaten start to the NBL1 North season going beating USC Rip City 78-61 at Northside Indoor Sports Centre.

Rip City was looking to hand the Wizards their first loss of the season and started well with 20 points to 16 in the quarter.

But Northside responded in emphatic fashion with 30 points to 11 in the second and that set up their eventual 17-point win to improve to 6-0 on the season with Rip City falling to 2-3.

Courtney Woods produced 22 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in the win for the Wizards while AJ Johnson added 22 points, eight boards, two assists and two steals.

Nadeen Payne also had 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Alice O'Driscoll 11 points and three boards.

Carlie Smith top-scored for Rip City with 23 points and 10 rebounds with N'dea Flye contributing 12 points, nine rebounds, five steals and four assists, and Megan Mullings 10 points and 10 boards.

Caps dominate Phoenix at home for big win

The Brisbane Capitals made it four wins in succession by proving too strong at home for the Sunshine Coast Phoenix, winning 97-65.

The Caps started the game at Auchenflower Stadium on fire with 30 points to 13 in the opening quarter and continued on with the job from there to end up beating the Phoenix by 32 points.

The win improves Brisbane to 5-1 on the season having won four in-a-row while Sunshine Coast is now 1-5 having lost three straight.

Mia Loyd had another standout performance in the win for the Capitals with 23 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and five steals on shooting 6/9 from the foul line, and 11/12 at the free-throw line.

Abby Cubillo produced another 20 points, four assists, three steals and two rebounds for Brisbane, Courtney Middap 18 points, nine assists, five rebounds and three steals, and Steph Collins 13 points, three boards, three assists and three blocked shots.

Kendell Heremaia top-scored for the Phoenix with 18 points, four assists and three rebounds while Amy Browne added 13 points, five steals, four assists and two boards, and Nicola Handreck 11 points and two assists. 

Thunder complete miracle comeback over Seahawks

It was the most heartbreaking of losses for the North Gold Coast Seahawks giving up a 20-point lead and missing a golden chance on the buzzer with the Logan Thunder snatching the stunning 63-62 win.

The Seahawks were in control over the first three quarters at Runaway Bay Stadium leading by as much as 20 points, and still being up 55-36 at three quarter-time.

However, the Thunder found something special in the fourth quarter to put up 27 points to take the lead in the dying stages.

Logan were leading 63-62 but the Seahawks still had a chance to avoid losing what was almost the unlosable 10 minutes earlier. 

Perth Lynx WNBL guard Emma Gandini drove the ball hard on the last possession and was fouled going to the rack. She just had to make one to force overtime or two to give North Gold Coast the lead with 4.3 seconds on the clock.

However, the dual NBL1 West championship winner who played 201 games at Willetton before crossing the country this season missed both at the line. 

She still had one more chance on the offensive rebound, but that rushed shot was well short and Logan escaped with the one-point win to have now won three of the last four games.

Mikhaela Cann delivered 21 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for Logan with Ashley Taia adding 16 points and nine rebounds, Alleah Hanson 15 points and five boards and Odette Isaac four points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Bionca Dunham top-scored for the Seahawks with 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists with Bride Kennedy-Hopoate adding 11 points and 12 boards, and Carly Remmos 11 points and five rebounds.

Spartans control second half to beat Gold Coast

The Southern Districts Spartans handed the Gold Coast Rollers their third defeat in four games after a hot start to the season with the 86-80 victory.

The Rollers opened the NBL1 North season in terrific form but their recent struggles continued at Rowland Cowan Stadium. 

However, by half-time it was Gold Coast leading 38-35 but it was all the Spartans in the second half outscoring the Rollers 51 points to 42 to end up winning by six and improving to 3-3 on the season in the process.

Madelyn Allen delivered a terrific performance for the Spartans with 23 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals with Natalie Taylor going 7/12 from three-point land on her way to 21 points. 

Elin Gustavsson added 13 points, five rebounds and two assists, Krystal Leger-Walker 11 points, seven boards and three assists, and Jess McDowell-White eight points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Ariana Moorer did all she could to keep Gold Coast in the contest with 29 points, 16 rebounds and five assists with Catherine Reese adding 20 points and eight boards, and Riley Evans 15 points, four rebounds and two assists. 

Triple-double for Gorrell as Ipswich keep Red City winless

The Ipswich Force won their second game of the NBL1 North season and kept the Red City Roar winless in the process of Saturday night's 92-69 road victory.

Red City was back home still hunting that elusive first win of the season but Ipswich arrived determined to not let that happen and were on top virtually the whole way.

The Force led 21-16 by quarter-time before extending their advantage to 12 at half-time, 18 at three quarter-time and ending up winning by 23 to improve to 2-3 on the season.

Meg Essex top-scored in the win for Ipswich with 20 points, four rebounds and four assists with Alison Gorrell delivering a triple-double made up of 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.

Maria Blazejewski added 15 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Georgia Ralph 12 points, four assists and three rebounds.

Caitlin Cunningham fought valiantly for the Roar with 24 points and 12 rebounds with Lilly Rotunno contributing 14 points, seven boards and three assists, and Shorna Preston 12 points and six rebounds.

Bobongie brilliant as Mackay enjoys return home

The Mackay Meteorettes enjoyed their return home and a superb showing from Denesha Bobongie led them to the 71-55 victory against the South West Metro Pirates.

The Meteorettes had a tough time of it last weekend in their road trip triple-header losing to the Caps, Wizards and Spartans by a combined 87 points, but they enjoyed being back at Mackay Basketball Stadium on Saturday night.

The Pirates did arrive on a three-game winning streak and they started well with 19 points to 13 in the first quarter, but Mackay got on a roll in the second period with 22 points to 13 to lead 35-32 at half-time.

It was still a tight game at three quarter-time but then in the fourth period, it was all Mackay with 21 points to eight to romp to the 16-point win to improve to 2-4 on the season with South West Metro slipping to 5-2.

The presence of Denesha Bobongie made a significant difference for Mackay and she delivered 18 points, 15 rebounds and four assists on 9/15 shooting from the floor.

Davida Dale contributed 18 points, seven steals, six rebounds and four assists with Madison MacDonald finishing with 11 points, two boards and two steals.

Leah Scott put up 20 points and nine rebounds for South West Metro while Lulu Twidale added 14 points, and Hannah Young 11 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.

Smooth moves Denesha Bobongie ?

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— NBL1 (@NBL1) April 29, 2023

MEN

Salties with remarkable last seven minutes to beat Heat

The Darwin Salties bounced back for their first road win of the season beating the Townsville Heat 91-86 thanks to a massive fourth quarter fightback.

The Salties played their first game away from home the previous night in a loss to Cairns ahead of taking on the Heat on Saturday at Townsville StarFM Stadium.

It was the Heat who started the better attempting to snap a three-game losing slide with 24 points to 21 in the first quarter. Another 26 to 20 in the second term and Townsville was on top 50-41 by half-time.

Townsville was then still on top through the third quarter with another 22 points to 16 and they were leading by as much as 17 points early in the fourth term, but then suddenly Darwin sprung to life.

After Townsville was leading 78-61 with seven minutes to play, the Salties outscored the Heat 30 points to eight in a remarkable final seven minutes of the contest.

Darwin turned that 17-point deficit into a five-point win in the space of just seven minutes to see them improve to 3-2 on the season. It's a fourth straight loss for the now 3-5 Townsville.

Makuach Maluach ended up with 32 points, 11 rebounds and three assists on 11/17 shooting for Darwin to go with hitting 4/6 from downtown and 6/7 at the foul line.

Deba George added 23 points with 6/14 three-point shooting while Sean Macdonald contributed 11 points and six rebounds, and Viliami Foketi 10 points, three boards and three assists.

Ethan Betts delivered 33 points, seven assists and six rebounds for Townsville with Richard Peachey contributing 14 points and five boards, Marshall Wilson 11 points and nine rebounds, and Kane Runnalls 10 points and seven boards.

White hits game winner as Wizards beat Noi's Rip City

Andrew White III denied USC Rip City producing their own massive fourth quarter fightback to win with his winning bucket delivering the Northside Wizards the 92-91 victory.

The Wizards played host to Rip City at Northside Indoor Sports Centre and after USC led by three at quarter-time, Northside took charge to end up leading by as much as 14 points in the third quarter, and still by 12 during the fourth.

However, Rip City arrived having won three straight games and weren’t going to be denied, fought all the way back to hit the front with a Matt Kenyon put back with just under two minutes to play.

It remained a one possession game over those last two minutes until the ball was in the hands of White for the Wizards. He delivered a picture perfect fadeaway jumper to put the Wizards in front by a point.

There was still time for one last shot out of a timeout for Rip City, but Brandon Wood's shot didn’t go and the Wizards escaped with the win to improve to 4-2 with Rip City now 3-2.

White finished the night with 23 points, 11 rebounds and four assists for the Wizards while hitting 4/6 from three-point range.

Lual Diing also had 22 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocks for Northside, Cameron Healy 21 points, eight assists and four rebounds, and DeShawn Ross-Paiwan 15 points and three boards.

Kouat Noi made his first appearance of the season for Rip City on the back of his role in the Sydney Kings winning the NBL championship. He finished with 34 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Brandon Wood added 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists, Matt Kenyon 13 points and six boards, and Eric McAlister 11 points and seven rebounds.

Return of the King ? #NBL1North MVP and @NBL Champion Kouat Noi is back for 2023 ?

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— NBL1 (@NBL1) April 29, 2023

Caps hold out Phoenix for first win of 2023

The Brisbane Capitals held out the fast finishing Sunshine Coast Phoenix to score their first win of the NBL1 North season by winning 84-80.

The Caps were back at home at Auchenflower Stadium after losing their opening five matches of the season, but they started well against the Phoenix with 27 points to 20 in the first quarter.

Another 25 to 16 in the second and Brisbane were leading 52-36 at half-time, but the Pheonix threw everything at a fightback in the second half.

They fell just short of pulling it off with the Capitals holding out for the four-point win to improve to 1-5 on the season with Sunshine Coast now 3-3.

Tim Soong top-scored in the win for the Caps with 19 points, five rebounds, five steals and three assists with Trevor Lakes adding 18 points, nine boards, four assists and two steals.

Atem Bior also had 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks for Brisbane, Matthew Johns 12 points, five boards, four assists and two blocks, and Geordan Papacostas 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots.

Jamaal Robateau put up 19 points and four assists for Sunshine Coast, Nelson Kahler 16 points and 10 boards, Justin Aver 14 points and four rebounds, and Jonathan Janssen nine points, 13 boards, three assists and three steals.

Majok Deng fires Logan to win over North Gold Coast

The Logan Thunder made it five wins in succession by beating the North Gold Coast Seahawks 92-79 on Saturday night.

The Seahawks were back home at Runaway Bay Stadium looking for a fourth consecutive win, but it wasn’t going to be easy against the on-fire Logan who were fresh off beating Red City by 24 points 24 hours earlier.

It was a tight game for the opening three quarters and it was North Gold Coast leading 66-63 at three quarter-time, but it was all Logan from there with 29 points to 13 in the fourth period to end up winning by 13.

The result means Logan has won five straight to sit at 5-1 on the season with the Seahawks falling to 3-2.

Majok Deng put together another standout performance for the Thunder as he attempts to continue his 201-game NBL career after stints with Adelaide and Cairns. He put up 32 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Shaun Bruce went ever so close to a triple-double with 16 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists while Rasmus Bach contributed 15 points, seven boards and five assists, Tom Howard 12 points and eight rebounds, and Boston Mazlin 10 points, two boards and two assists.

Kody Stattmann top-scored for the Seahawks with 21 points and seven rebounds with Biwali Bayles contributing 15 points and nine boards, Aiden Krause 18 points and five rebounds, and Majok Majok 11 points and 13 boards. 

 

Cadee brilliant again as Gold Coast keep on winning

The Gold Coast Rollers continue to build some momentum in their NBL1 North championship defence after a 101-82 road victory against the Southern Districts Spartans.

While Gold Coast did lose two of their opening three matches, their form has been growing as the troops have come back on deck and that continued on Saturday night.

The Rollers put up 32 points to 27 in the opening period, 23 to 19 in the second and 23 to nine in the third to lead by 23 at three quarter-time, and going on to score the 19-point victory.

It's a third consecutive win for Gold Coast as they now sit at 4-2 on the season with Southern Districts slipping to 1-5 with the defeat.

Gold Coast captain Jason Cadee was brilliant showing off his all-round talents once more with 32 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and four steals.

Todd Blanchfield added 21 points, seven rebounds and five steals for Gold Coast, Cameron Thew 20 points and nine boards, and Tanner Krebs 13 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals.

Alex Mudronja put up 34 points, three rebounds and three steals for Southern Districts on 4/7 three-point shooting with Kian Dennis contributing 12 points and seven boards, Akoldah Gak 10 points and eight rebounds, and Koen Sapwell 10 points and three boards.

Galloway fires to help keep Ipswich undefeated

The Ipswich Force maintained their undefeated start to the NBL1 North season beating the Red City Roar 94-84 on the road.

Ipswich had won its opening four matches coming into the clash with Red City at Paul Bancroft Centre, and it was in the second quarter where the Force made their move.

They scored 27 points to 12 to head into half-time leading 48-33, and that was enough to set the tone for the eventual 10-point win to improve Ipswich to 5-0 on the season with Red City now 2-4 with back-to-back defeats.

The Force won despite a rough shooting night for Brisbane Bullets superstar Nathan Sobey. He had just nine points, four assists and three rebounds on 3/17 shooting and going 1/14 from downtown.

However, Jaylin Galloway put up 27 points and six rebounds while hitting 6/8 from long-range for Ipswich with Cameron Goldfinch delivering 23 points and five boards, Deng Deng 13 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Atem Atem 12 points and five boards.

Jaylen Key top-scored for Red City with 25 points while Nelson Larkins produced 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, Javaan Mumtaz 14 points and six boards, Alec Godinet 11 points and nine rebounds, and Mitch Poulain six points and 15 boards.

Patterson shines as Pirates hand Meteors first defeat

The unbeaten run to start the season of the Mackay Meteors is over with the South West Metro Pirates heading north and handing them the 97-87 defeat.

Mackay was on fire starting the season winning the opening five matches including all three last week on the road to Brisbane, Northside and Southern Districts, but the Pirates arrived at Mackay Basketball Stadium on a mission.

South West Metro started well with 24 points to 16 in the first quarter and then pulled away in the fourth with 26 to 21 to end up winning by 10 and improving to 3-4 on the season while handing Mackay its first defeat.

Lamar Patterson was superb in the win for the Pirates with 26 points, eight assists, six rebounds and four steals on 10/14 shooting.

Ben Volkman also had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Kai Woodfall 16 points and three assists, Zac Carter 11 points and three boards, Brendan Teys 11 points, three rebounds and three assists, and Chris Cedar nine points, eight boards and three assists.

Isaac White still had a strong showing for Mackay despite the loss with 32 points, four rebounds and four assists with Tyler Williams contributing 20 points, six boards, four assists and three steals.

Isaac White is keeping things close ?

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— NBL1 (@NBL1) April 29, 2023