East Spotlight | Bruins still control Spiders' fate

The Bankstown Bruins stayed third in the NBL1 East and put a significant dent in the playoff hopes of the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders but can now do them an almighty favour on Sunday by beating the Maitland Mustangs.

Both teams come into the last round of the season with plenty to play for Bankstown needing to win both to stay in third position with the Spiders also needing a win to hold their place in the top eight.

That set up a tremendous contest at The Brickpit and with the Bruins without Shyla Heal, things got all the more intriguing.

Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai did open up a seven-point lead in the first quarter but Bankstown had got on top 22-20 by quarter-time before the Spiders had another 25 points to 19 in the second term to go into half-time leading 45-41 despite 15 points from Margot De Freitas for the visitors.

The Bruins dominated the third period with 20 points to 10 with shooting 8/16 from the field to the 4/16 from the Spiders.

Bankstown went on with it from there to secure the three-point victory with Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai coming flying home with a 12-0 run knowing their season was potentially on the line.

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The win improves the Bruins to a 15-4 record to stay in third position but they need to beat the Maitland Mustangs to stay there and that's a big game as well for the Spiders.

Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai are now 10-10 with their regular season done while the Mustangs improved to 10-9 by beating the Newcastle Falcons by two points also on Saturday with that game on Sunday to end up determining the last playoff position.

Bankstown did have to dig deep without Shyla Heal out there and ended up shooting slightly better from the field but the Spiders had nine extra free-throw attempts to help offset the 20 turnovers that they had.

The Bruins still need the one more win to secure third spot but they can't finish worse than fourth with Margot De Freitas delivering 25 points, five assists, three steals and two rebounds.

Lily Austin added 17 points with 5/7 shooting from the outside with Kiahna Davis-White contributing 15 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals, Shalome Dunlop eight points and five boards, and Jane Dunlop eight points.

Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai couldn’t quite get the win they needed to at least boost their hopes of playing finals and now they have to rely on the team they just lost to for a favour on Sunday if they want be part of the post-season.

Kristina Moore finished with 22 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Spiders with Ay'Anna Bey adding 14 points, six boards and two steals, Lucy Mead 12 points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals, and Laya Hartman 11 points, eight boards and two steals.

NBL1 EAST 2026 SEASON | ROUND 15

HORNSBY KU-RING-GAI SPIDERS 76 (Moore 22, Bey 14, Mead 12)

BANKSTOWN BRUINS 79 (De Freitas 25, Austin 17, Davis-White 15)