NBL1 South Recap | Men's Preliminary Finals

The Hobart Chargers and Mount Gambier Pioneers were the top two teams in the NBL1 South and now will clash in the Grand Final, but they didn’t have things all their own way in Sunday's preliminary finals.

The Chargers and Pioneers both finished the regular season in the top two positions in the NBL1 South competition and then defeated the Sandringham Sabres and Kilsyth Cobras respectively in the qualifying finals last weekend.

However, both the Sabres and Cobras had a second chance to book in their places in the preliminary finals and they delivered on their home floors in the semi-final match ups where Kilsyth defeated the Bendigo Braves and Sandringham overcame the Frankston Blues.

That meant that the top four teams all locked horns once again on Sunday in the preliminary finals with places in next Saturday night's Grand Final up for grabs.

The Sunday afternoon preliminary final action saw Mount Gambier play host to Sandringham at The Ice House, and the Pioneers proved too strong going on to win 88-62 on their home floor.

Michael Harris delivered 21 points for Mount Gambier in the win with Nick Marshall and Clevon Brown both adding 17 points and 10 rebounds apiece.

Sandringham were once again missing their three leading scorers Shea Ili, Tohi Smith-Milner and Dion Prewster, but Dave Barlow stepped up for 17 points and eight rebounds.

The other preliminary final took place at the Southern Tasmania Netball Centre and the Hobart Chargers managed to hold out the fast finishing Kilsyth Cobras for the 74-69 victory.

AJ Harris put up 21 points and nine rebounds to lead the charge in the win for Hobart while Corey Jeffs put up 20 points and seven rebounds for Kilsyth.

That all sets up a mouth watering NBL1 South Grand Final this coming Saturday night between the Hobart Chargers and Mount Gambier Pioneers at the State Basketball Centre.

NBL1 SOUTH – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
PRELIMINARY FINALS – SUNDAY

MOUNT GAMBIER PIONEERS 88 defeated SANDRINGHAM SABRES 62

The Mount Gambier Pioneers played host to the Sandringham Sabres at The Ice House on Sunday afternoon with a place in the NBL1 South Grand Final up for grabs.

Mount Gambier finished the 2022 regular season in second position in the standings to earn the rights to host a qualifying final which they won 94-84 against the Kilsyth Cobras to earn a spot back at home in the preliminary final.

Sandringham finished the regular season in fourth position and lost their qualifying final on the road to the Hobart Chargers by 18 points but they had earned a second chance to host the Frankston Blues in Friday night's semi-final.

Despite the absence of their three leading scorers Shea Ili, Dion Prewster and Tohi Smith-Milner, the Sabres were able to beat Frankston 77-66 to then set up a crack at the Pioneers in Sunday's preliminary final.

It was a packed building at The Ice House to try and cheer Mount Gambier into the Grand Final, but it was a tight start to the contest with the Pioneers only managing to lead 22-21 by quarter-time.

While Mount Gambier did score 13 straight points during the second quarter to go on to lead by 10, Sandringham fired back with their own 7-0 run and that limited the lead for the Pioneers to 39-36 at the half-time break.

However, Mount Gambier were able to assert their dominance in the third quarter by outscoring the Sabres 28 points to 10 to open up a 21-point advantage.

That lead grew to 28 points in the last term for the Pioneers and they went on to claim the 88-62 victory to book in their place in the Grand Final on Saturday night at the State Basketball Centre.

Michael Harris is preparing to join the Perth Wildcats as a development player and he remains in impressive form for Mount Gambier by delivering another 21 points, six rebounds and three assists while hitting 4/9 from three-point land.

Nick Marshall added 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the Pioneers, Clevon Brown 17 points and 10 boards, Jordan Rawls 13 points and three rebounds, and Tom Kubank 11 points, 10 boards and three assists.

Dave Barlow used all of his experience including 366 games in the NBL to lead the charge for a Sandringham team still without Shea Ili, Dion Prewster and Tohi Smith-Milner. Barlow finished with 17 points and eight rebounds.

David Okwera added 12 points and 15 rebounds, Nick Gabsch nine points and three boards, Tom Wright eight points and four assists, and Campbell Blogg eight points and three rebounds.

HOBART CHARGERS 74 defeated KILSYTH COBRAS 69

The Hobart Chargers had led the way in the NBL1 South for pretty much the whole 2022 season but the Kilsyth Cobras came to town for Sunday's preliminary final full of belief they could cause the upset.

Hobart finished the season on top of the table in the NBL1 South before beating the Sandringham Sabres 73-55 in a qualifying final to ensure they would remain at home to host a preliminary final on Sunday.

Kilsyth lost its qualifying final on the road to Mount Gambier after finishing the regular season in third position and then were able to win an overtime classic on Friday night at home to the Bendigo Braves to advance to a preliminary final.

That all set the stage for the Chargers to host the Cobras with a Grand Final spot on the line at the Southern Tasmania Netball Centre.

Hobart started the preliminary final strongly with a 14-0 run during the opening quarter to open up an 11-point lead by quarter-time.

The Chargers turned that into an 18-0 run in the second quarter to see their lead grow to 16 points, but the Cobras were able to stem the tide and limit Hobart's lead to 43-32 at the half-time break.

Kilsyth kept things interesting during the third quarter but couldn’t quite close the gap with Hobart still on top by 10 points at three quarter-time.

The Cobras weren’t going to go down wondering, though, and when Jamie Ahale nailed a three-pointer with five minutes to go all of a sudden it was just a one-point ball game.

Hobart was able to steady back out to a seven-point lead with under a minute to go, but still Kilsyth kept coming and Tim Lang knocked down a three ball to keep things interesting.

AJ Harris nailed a free-throw soon after and that prove the final score of the game with the Chargers holding on for the 74-69 victory to book in a spot in the Grand Final against the Mount Gambier Pioneers on Saturday night at the State Basketball Centre.

AJ Harris delivered 21 points, nine rebounds and two assists on the afternoon for the Chargers with Ole Angerstein contributing 13 points and 10 boards.

Jamar Sandifer added 11 points and four rebounds for Hobart, Jack Stanwix 10 points with 3/3 shooting from beyond the arc, Sam McDaniel nine points and seven rebounds, and Harry Froling six points and 12 boards.

It was another brave showing from Kilsyth with Corey Jeffs finishing with 20 points, seven rebounds and two assists. 

Tim Lang added 19 points and four rebounds for the Cobras, Jamie Ahale 13 points and three boards, and Deng Deng seven points and 11 rebounds.