East Spotlight | Sharks keep winning minus Loz

Featured image: @jamesodphotography

The Sutherland Sharks dealt with the absence of Lauren Nicholson by sharing the load with Maddy Norris showing the way as they made it consecutive home wins to start the NBL1 East season beating the Maitland Mustangs 73-54.

The Sharks opened their season two weeks ago beating the Sydney Comets also at Sutherland Basketball Stadium but that was with Nicholson delivering 29 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

She wasn’t there on Saturday to take on the Mustangs, but Sutherland still opened up a 14-point lead by quarter-time and despite scoring just seven points in the second period, took over again in the second half for the eventual 19-point victory.

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The Sharks did a good job of spreading the load in the absence of Lauren Nicholson with Maddy Norris showing the way with 17 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals while shooting 5/10 from the field, 2/4 from three-point range and 5/6 at the foul line.

Aliza Fabbro also put up 15 points, three rebounds and two assists with Ella Dent contributing 12 points and seven boards, Abi Curtin 10 points and nine rebounds despite 2/15 shooting, and Olivia Douglas eight points, 11 boards and two assists.

Kasey Neubert finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks for Maitland with Jessalyn Finney contributing 13 points and six boards with that pair combining to go 10/12 at the free-throw line with the rest of the team only going 1/2.

Sara Matthews also had eight points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals for Maitland, and Shakera Reilly six points, six boards and two assists.

It was a dominant opening quarter performance from the Sharks even without Lauren Nicholson and already by quarter-time on their home floor they were leading 26-12.

That was on the back of shooting 50 per cent from the field to just 29 from the Mustangs while also knocking down 4/6 from deep to 0/5, and 4/6 at the free-throw line to just 2/2 from Maitland.

The Mustangs were able to work back into the contest, though, in the second quarter and held the Sharks to just seven points the entire 10 minutes and restricting them to shooting just 3/15 from the field along with having seven turnovers.

That limited the Sutherland lead at half-time to just 33-26 but the home team did work back on top further in the third frame with 18 points to 15 with their five offensive rebounds helping to offset coughing up another five turnovers.

That saw the Sharks leading 51-41 going into the fourth quarter and they completed the job from there with 22 points to 13 in the last term on the back of shooting 7/11 from the field, 2/3 from deep and 6/8 at the foul line to secure the 19-point victory.

The Mustangs back up again on Sunday to take on the Inner West Bulls while the Sharks are next in action away to the Norths Bears next Saturday.

NBL1 EAST 2026 SEASON | ROUND 2

SUTHERLAND SHARKS 73 (Norris 17, Fabbro 15, Dent 12)

MAITLAND MUSTANGS 54 (Neubert 19, Finney 13, Matthews 8)