East Spotlight | Hawks' dynamic duo deliver again

Featured image: Rob Sheeley/@robshots

They could very well lay claim as the best one-two punch in the entire NBL1 and Matthew Mims and Todd Blanchfield combined for another 58 points, 17 rebounds and 12 three-pointers in the Illawarra Hawks' 118-77 NBL1 East demolition of the Central Coast Crusaders.

Even with the Crusaders arriving at The Snakepit after two wins last weekend with the addition of Matur Maker, the Hawks couldn’t be stopped on their home floor with 69 points on the board in the first half with Blanchfield and Mims scoring 40 of those.

The Illawarra lead eventually got out to as much as 41 by the final buzzer with 473-game championship winning NBL veteran Blanchfield finishing with 34 points, 16 rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks with 6/15 three-point shooting and going 8/8 at the charity stripe.

After being a steady contributor on last year's team that reached the Grand Final, Mims has gone to the next level in 2026. He had another 24 points and six assists with 6/11 three-point shooting while being a team-high +32 in his 30 minutes.

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The Hawks ended up putting 118 points on the board in the 41-point win on shooting 20/47 from downtown as a team while pulling down 14 offensive rebounds and having just eight turnovers, and forcing the Crusaders into 15 turnovers and holding them to 33 per cent shooting and 3/28 from downtown.

On top of what Blanchfield and Mims delivered for the now 3-1 Hawks, Aki Langford contributed 12 points and two assists, Jonah Flinn 11 points and four rebounds with 3/4 three-point shooting, Ethan Moss 11 points and four assists, and Mohamed Kone nine points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Central Coast are now 3-2 for the season with Luke Cassidy continuing his standout start in 2026 with another 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists with 7/7 free-throw shooting.

Thomas Akamarmoi also had 17 points and five rebounds, Matur Maker 13 points and 13 boards, and Aaron Redhead eight points and four rebounds.

Central Coast might have been fresh off two wins last weekend after adding Matur Maker, but taking on the Hawks on their home floor was a different matter and Illawarra already opened up a 30-14 advantage by quarter-time.

Matthew Mims and Todd Blanchfield combined for 20 of those 30 points with 5/7 three-point shooting with the Crusaders only shooting 33 per cent from the floor and having five turnovers in the first 10 minutes.

That was only the entrée for what the Hawks delivered in the second period where they put up 39 points on 13/22 shooting from the floor and 5/10 from deep to open up a 37-point gap along the way.

Blanchfield and Mims combined to add another 20 points in the quarter between them and they had 19 and 21 respectively by the break with Illawarra well in control leading 69-32 with the Crusaders shooting just 27 per cent despite getting to the foul line 19 times.

Even Maker's nine points and nine rebounds couldn’t get them any closer than 37 after the first 20 minutes.

Illawarra couldn’t quite keep the same pace going and Central Coast even managed to narrowly outscore them 23 to 22 in the third quarter before the Hawks had 27 to 22 in the last on the way to putting up 118 for the night to win by 41 and improve to 3-1.

The Crusaders will be next in action on the road to the Hills Hornets on Anzac Day while the Hawks play host to the Sutherland Sharks also next Saturday.

NBL1 EAST 2026 SEASON | ROUND 3

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 118 (Blanchfield 34, Mims 24, Langford 12)

CENTRAL COAST CRUSADERS 77 (Cassidy 21, Akamarmoi 17, Maker 13)