South Recap | Round 3 Thursday

Image credit: Trent Moore Sports Photography

Five late triples from Haylee Andrews and Eilidh Vanderwal got the Sandringham Sabres the Thursday night NBL1 South win while Keli Leaulepe led the star-studded Knox Raiders to the 4-0 start.

SOUTH RECAP | ROUND 3 SATURDAY

WOMEN

Sandringham Sabres (79) defeated Knox Raiders (76)

A late three-point barrage from Haylee Andrews and Eilidh Vanderwal saw the Sandringham Sabres hand the Knox Raiders a first defeat of 2025 with the 79-76 victory.

The Raiders arrived at Southern Basketball Stadium for the Easter Thursday match up having won all three of their games to start the new season while the Sabres were at home and looking to bounce back from their first defeat at the hands of the Mount Gambier Pioneers.

It was a tight contest all the way through in a high-quality match up even with Sandringham opening up an early eight-point lead, but Knox responded with seven straight points and were leading 20-19 by quarter-time.

The Sabres did earn back the momentum somewhat in the second term outscoring the Raiders 19 points to 14 and that saw the home side leading 38-34 going into the half-time interval.

Sandringham again were able to push out to an eight-point lead in the third quarter and they were still up by five at three quarter-time, but then it was Knox's turn to make their charge.

The Raiders went on an 8-0 scoring run to be eight points to the good by the time Paige Bradley knocked down a three-pointer with four minutes to play.

But then it was the time for Sandringham to light it up and it started with a three ball from Eilidh Vanderwal with just under 3:30 to play to make it a four-point ball game.

Haylee Andrews then knocked down two in the space of 30 seconds to put the home team up by two, and eventually another couple by Vanderwal from beyond the arc sealed the deal for the Sabres to win by three.

Sandringham improves to 4-1 on the season with the win with Andrews finishing with shooting 5/7 from three-point range for 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Vanderwal also made 3/4 from deep with all three of those in the clutch on her way to nine points with Funda Nakkasoglu contributing 19 points, three rebounds and two assists, Lucy Cochrane 11 points, eight boards, three assists and two blocks, and Klara Wischer 10 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Knox is now 3-1 following a first loss of the season with Paige Bradley finishing with 24 points, five rebounds and three assists, Rachel Bell 18 points and six boards, and Alicia Froling 13 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.

SANDRINGHAM SABRES 79 (Andrews 22, Nakkasoglu 19, Cochrane 11)

KNOX RAIDERS 76 (Bradley 24, Bell 18, Froling 13)

Kilsyth Cobras (53) lost to Ringwood Hawks (106)

The Ringwood Hawks snapped a two-game losing run in emphatic fashion with the 106-53 road victory against the Kilsyth Cobras.

Coming into the Easter Thursday match up, Kilsyth were looking for a third consecutive win while the Hawks were out to put an end to their run of two straight defeats.

They did battle at Kilsyth Sports Centre and it was a flying start from Ringwood as they put up 26 points to 11 in the first quarter.

The Hawks delivered another 33 points to 15 in the second term too while going on a 19-0 scoring run along the way with the lead as much as 36 points.

On the back of that, Ringwood were leading 59-26 at half-time with the Hawks going on with the job from there with another 30 points to 12 in the third frame, and 17 to 15 on the way to the eventual 53-point win away from home.

The Hawks improve to 2-2 on the season with the win with Lana Hollingsworth shooting 7/11 from the floor and 5/5 at the free-throw line on the way to 21 points and two assists.

Sarah Elsworthy added 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals, Nyaduoth Lok 16 points and eight boards, Aneta Bandilovska 12 points and three rebounds, Camille Hobby 12 points and eight boards, and Annabel Deerbon 10 points, six rebounds and four assists.

The Cobras are now 2-4 following the defeat on their home floor with Nikita Young top-scoring with 12 points and four assists with Paige Price adding 10 points, seven boards, four assists and three steals.

KILSYTH COBRAS 53 (Young 12, Price 10, Dufficy 8, Day 8)

RINGWOOD HAWKS 106 (Hollingsworth 21, Elsworthy 19, Lok 16)

MEN

Sandringham Sabres (77) lost to Knox Raiders (94)

The Knox Raiders took charge in the second half outscoring the Sandringham Sabres by 17 points on the way to the 94-77 victory with Sydney Kings NBL powerhouse Keli Leaulepe leading the charge.

The Sabres were on their home court at Southern Basketball Stadium hunting a first win of the season hosting a Raiders team so far undefeated and with an imposing line-up not only with Leaulepe but also featuring Sunday Dech, Tad Dufelmeier and newly signed former NBA player Norvel Pelle.

Despite the star-studded line-up they were up against, Sandringham were on top for the majority of the first half including being up by nine points on separate occasions in each of the first and second quarters.

Knox did hit back on each occasion and by half-time it was a tied ball game at 42-42.

The Sabres had done well to not only stick with Knox in the first half, but lead for all but 67 seconds, only for the Raiders to take control in the second half.

Knox put up 28 points to 16 in the third quarter and another 24 to 19 in the fourth to end up leading by as much as 25 points on the way to the 17-point victory after the scores were deadlocked at half-time.

Keli Leaulepe was a dominant presence in the win for the now 4-0 Raiders with 26 points and 11 rebounds while knocking down 6/10 from three-point range.

Brody Nunn also put up 19 points, six assists and five rebounds for Knox with Tad Dufelmeier adding 15 points, four boards, four steals and two assists, Norvel Pelle 10 points and four rebounds, and Sunday Dech eight points, six boards and three assists.

The Sabres are now 0-5 on the season with the loss despite Elliott Brown delivering 23 points, four rebounds and three assists with Malith Machar adding 21 points and six boards, and CJ Asuncion-Byrd 11 points.

SANDRINGHAM SABRES 77 (Brown 23, Machar 21, Asuncion-Byrd 11)

KNOX RAIDERS 94 (Leaulepe 26, Nunn 19, Dufelmeier 15)

Kilsyth Cobras (83) defeated Ringwood Hawks (78)

The Kilsyth Cobras fired back from a seven-point deficit in the third quarter to finish the better and score the 83-78 home victory against the Ringwood Hawks.

The Cobras were back home at Kilsyth Sports Centre looking to snap a two-game losing run while the Hawks arrived also attempting to bounce back from a last up loss to the Nunawading Spectres.

It was a strong start from the home team with Kilsyth opening up a seven-point lead in the first term on the way to the 23-18 lead by quarter-time.

The Cobras were back out to a seven-point edge in the second term too but Ringwood kept things close and by half-time they were only clinging to the 43-39 advantage.

Ringwood then went on a 7-0 scoring run of their own in the third quarter to grab the lead and then end up on top by as much as seven points to have all the momentum.

But Kilsyth had got back on top to lead by two again at three quarter-time, and then to complete the deal with 22 points to 18 in the fourth term on the way to the six-point victory.

Kilsyth improves to 3-3 with the victory with Corey Jeffs continuing his strong form with another 21 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.

Adrian Tomada also had 20 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals for the Cobras, Dillon Stith 13 points and nine boards, and Isaiah Harvey 11 points, six rebounds and two steals.

Ringwood is now 2-2 following the defeat heading into Easter with Jonathan Lawton ending up with 23 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Tom Carroll also had 22 points and five rebounds with 6/12 three-point shooting while Josh Tomasi contributed 15 points, 11 boards and three assists.

KILSYTH COBRAS 83 (Jeffs 21, Tomada 20, Stith 13)

RINGWOOD HAWKS 78 (Lawton 23, Carroll 22, Tomasi 15)