East Spotlight | CoE lockdown Panthers for massive win

Featured image: @DiscoveryOne_Photography, Greg Francis

The Centre of Excellence restricted the Penrith Panthers to 19 points in the first 30 minutes in Sunday's NBL1 East match up including not a single field goal in the third quarter on the way to the 72-36 road win.

Both teams arrived at Hawkesbury Indoor Stadium having played on Saturday which saw the CoE beat the Hills Hornets by 11 points and the Panthers lost to the Illawarra Hawks at home by 12.

The Centre of Excellence then dominated the Sunday contest from the start holding Penrith to seven points in the first quarter and nine in the second to lead 34-16 by half-time with the Panthers only shooting 6/29 from the field.

Penrith then missed all 12 shot attempts in the third quarter with their three points only coming at the foul line and by three quarter-time the home team had just 19 points on the board.

They did score 17 in the last but the CoE still cruised to the 36-point victory even without having a great offensive display themselves.

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The Centre of Excellence did only score the 72 points on 34 per cent shooting from the field and 8/34 from downtown, but they did restrict Penrith to 36 on 19 per cent shooting with 4/22 from long-range.

The Centre of Excellence once again had plenty of players making a strong contribution with Eliza Shanahan finishing with 14 points and four rebounds with Aspen Crase adding 14 points, five boards and two steals.

Isabel Smith also had 12 points and four rebounds with Jay Sebasio contributing 10 points, nine boards, three assists and three steals, and Zara Russell eight points and four rebounds.

It was a rough afternoon at home for Penrith with Sofia Hunt finishing with 13 points and four rebounds with Chanel Bastin adding eight points, five boards, three assists and two steals, and Maria Garcia Leon seven points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots.

Both teams had already played this weekend on Saturday with the Centre of Excellence beating the Hills Hornets to start their road double while the Panthers lost at home in a competitive showing to the Illawarra Hawks.

It was a dominant start from the Centre of Excellence with them scoring nine straight points in the opening quarter to open up a 12-point lead and to be up 16-7 by quarter-time.

It was another 18 points to nine in the second quarter in favour of the CoE and by half-time they were well in control while struggling themselves offensively shooting just 32 per cent from the field and 3/15 from downtown with nine turnovers.

The Centre of Excellence were leading 34-16 by half-time and of those 16 points for Penrith, Sofia Hunt scored eight of them on 3/5 shooting with the rest of the team only managing eight points 3/24 shooting.

Things got even worse for the Panthers in the third quarter and they went scoreless for seven minutes and didn't manage a single field goal for the entire 10 minutes.

Their only three points came at the free-throw line thanks to Chanel Bastin and Maria Garcia Leon for their three lone points with the CoE scoring another 15 on the way to leading 49-19 by three quarter-time.

Things did at least open up a little in the last term with Penrith putting up 17 points but the CoE added another 23 too for the 36-point triumph.

The Centre of Excellence remain on the road on Saturday to take on the Norths Bears while the Panthers will also be away to the Central Coast Crusaders next Sunday afternoon.

NBL1 EAST 2026 SEASON | ROUND 7

PENRITH PANTHERS 36 (Hunt 13, Bastin 8, Garcia Leon 7)

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 72 (Shanahan 14, Crase 14, Smith 12)