North Finals | Ipswich end Sunshine Coast's season

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Lamar Patterson showed he still has plenty in the tank and the Ipswich Force dominated most of the night even without Sam McDaniel before holding out the fast-finishing Sunshine Coast Phoenix for the 86-81 NBL1 North qualifying final win.

Both teams came into the finals deservedly thinking they could still do something special given the talent and experience they possess, but the reality was the season of one would also be over by the end of Saturday night at Maroochydore Stadium.

Sunshine Coast earned home court advantage by finishing third with a 12-4 record while Ipswich just managed to hold on to sixth place at 8-8 despite last week's loss to Logan Thunder.

That set up a mouth watering battle with their seasons on the line and it was Ipswich holding the 25-21 lead by quarter-time before they took control in the second quarter.

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Ipswich managed to build a 15-point lead during the second frame and went into half-time on top 48-35 with Lamar Patterson up to 18 points and Lachlan Anderson 15 while they were shooting 45 per cent as a team to 38 while forcing the Phoenix into seven turnovers while having one themselves.

That lead continued to grow for the Force in the third quarter with another 24 points to 16 including five more for Patterson with him up to 23 for the game and by three quarter-time, Ipswich were in control 72-51.

Sunshine Coast's season was on the line and they did their best to give themselves a shot with 30 points in the fourth quarter, but the deficit was too much to make up and the closest they could get was the five points by the final buzzer thanks to a last second triple from Darnell Robateau.

Ipswich now keep their season alive to set up a semi-final match up with the undefeated Cairns Marlins next Saturday with a spot in the Grand Final on the line.

A lot of the numbers had evened up by the end of the night given the big fourth quarter from Sunshine Coast but Ipswich still did shooting 47 per cent from the field to 41 including making 10/25 from the outside to 6/28 on the way to the qualifying final win.

Lachlan Anderson produced 26 points and seven rebounds with 4/13 three-point shooting in the win for Ipswich with Lamar Patterson adding 23 points, nine boards and seven assists.

Merrick Small added 17 points, nine rebounds and two steals, Jason Ralph 11 points, seven assists and six boards, and Will Mahoney seven points and five rebounds.

The season is now over that promised so much for Sunshine Coast as they fall a stage earlier than they did a year ago when they were eliminated in the semi finals by the Brisbane Capitals.

Nelson Kahler finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds in a strong big man performance for the Phoenix with Earnest Ross adding 14 points, eight boards and two assists, and DeShawn Ross-Paiwan 13 points, four assists and three rebounds.

Luke Anderson once again top scored for Sunshine Coast on the back of being named Best Sixth Man with 16 points and seven rebounds while Darnell Robateau contributed 10 points, 10 boards and seven assists.

NBL1 NORTH 2026 SEASON | QUALIFYING FINAL

SUNSHINE COAST PHOENIX 81 (Anderson 16, Kahler 15, Ross 14)

IPSWICH FORCE 86 (Anderson 26, Patterson 23, Small 17)