North Recap | Quarter Finals Saturday

Image credit: Jasmine Amis

Tamuri Wigness inspired Southern Districts Spartans to a huge fourth quarter to eliminate defending NBL1 North champions Mackay Meteors with quarter-final wins also for the Cairns Dolphins and Sunshine Coast Phoenix men.

NORTH RECAP | QUARTER FINALS FRIDAY

NORTH RECAP | ROUND 13 SATURDAY

WOMEN

Cairns Dolphins (89) defeated Townsville Flames (74)

Mia Loyd was brilliant, Cayla George showed her experience and Summah Evans contributed strongly as the Cairns Dolphins kept their season alive with the 89-74 win over the Townsville Flames.

Cairns won the last four games of the regular season to finish at 10-4 in third position to earn the right to host the quarter-final at Trinity Ford Stadium against a Townsville team finishing sixth with a 7-7 record.

Up for grabs was a spot in the semi finals next weekend against Logan Thunder and it didn’t take Cairns long to take control of the match up with an 11-point lead in the first quarter.

The Dolphins were still on top 23-14 by quarter-time with 8/14 shooting from the field to the 4/16 from the Flames.

The lead got out to 15 points in the second quarter for Cairns with them still on top 45-37 by half-time but then Townsville did hit back in the third period and by three quarter-time after the last four points, the Dolphins lead was only five points.

Cairns did hit back in the last term with 25 points to 15 for the strong finish to claim the 15-point victory and set up a semi-final match up next week against Logan Thunder with the winner to advance to the grand final series.

Mia Loyd was tremendous once more in the win for the Dolphins finishing with 27 points, 10 rebounds and six assists on 10/11 field goal shooting and 6/8 at the free-throw line.

Summah Evans also delivered 16 points with 4/8 three-point shooting while Cayla George produced 15 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks, Teyahna Bond nine points and three assists, and Aimee Brett eight points and four assists.

Townsville's season is now over with the first up finals defeat to their Far North Queensland rivals with Sam Bowman producing another 24 points, eight rebounds, four steals and three assists on 10/17 field goal shooting.

Mia Murray knocked down 4/9 from downtown for 18 points, six rebounds and two assists, Tayla Dalton 11 points, six boards and three assists, and Shaylee Browning 10 points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals.

CAIRNS DOLPHINS 89 (Loyd 27, Evans 16, George 15)

TOWNSVILLE FLAMES 74 (Bowman 24, Murray 18, Dalton 11)

MEN

Sunshine Coast Phoenix (117) defeated Rockhampton Rockets (86)

DeShawn Ross-Paiwan and Erik Kafritsas combined for 56 points and nine three-pointers as the Sunshine Coast advanced to the semi finals with the emphatic 117-86 home win over the Rockhampton Rockets.

Sunshine Coast finished on the same record as the top two teams Gold Coast and Brisbane, but ended up down in third position meaning they had to earn their way into the semi finals.

Momentum had been building with the Phoenix throughout the season with the 9-5 record and with a passionate home supporter base before them as they played host to Rockhampton in the quarter-final at Maroochydore Stadium.

Rockhampton finished the regular season in sixth spot with a 7-7 record having qualified for the finals with their thrilling win over the defending champion Mackay Meteors last Saturday night.

Away from home and trying to take the Sunshine Coast crowd out of it, the Rockets started strongly with 29 points to 23 in the first quarter with shooting 12/27 from the field to 6/16 from the Phoenix with those 11 extra shot attempts proving crucial.

The Phoenix were able to start turning things around in the second term by outscoring the Rockets 34-27 thanks to shooting 13/21 from the field opposed to the 10/14 from Rockhampton with the possession game again playing a big part.

It was then a total domination from Sunshine Coast throughout the second half with 25 points to 12 in the second quarter, and 35 to 18 in the fourth as they outscored the Rockets 60-30 after half-time.

In the second half alone, the Phoenix shot 21/45 from the field opposed to 11/40 from the Rockets to end up securing the 31-point victory to take plenty of momentum into their semi-final match up against the Brisbane Capitals.

There were plenty of standout performers in the win for Sunshine Coast with DeShawn Ross-Paiwan leading the charge with 30 points and five rebounds with 12/19 field goal shooting and 4/10 three-point shooting.

Erik Kafritsas added 26 points with 5/8 three-point shooting while Earnest Ross contributed 17 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals, Jamaal Robateau 14 points, seven boards and three assists, Darnell Robateau 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Elias Cato 10 points and seven boards.

The season is over Rockhampton as a result of the defeat with Jalen Graham producing 26 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals on 11/16 shooting.

Harrison Hornery also ended up with 17 points and eight rebounds, Malcolm Bernard 16 points, eight assists and six boards, Isaac Ayoubi 14 points, four rebounds and three assists.

SUNSHINE COAST PHOENIX 117 (Ross-Paiwan 30, Kafritsas 26, Ross 17)

ROCKHAMPTON ROCKETS 86 (Graham 26, Hornery 17, Bernard 16)

Southern Districts Spartans (108) defeated Mackay Meteors (96)

With their season on the line, the Southern Districts Spartans scored 36 points to go with six offensive rebounds, five steals and two blocks in the fourth quarter to beat the Mackay Meteors 108-96.

It was always going to be a dramatic evening at Rowland Cowan Stadium with both the Spartans and Meteors having groups capable of contending for a championship this NBL1 North season, but one of their seasons would be over by the end of Saturday night.

Coming off last season's championship triumph, it was always going to be an intriguing year for Mackay given the departure of Joel Khalu, Todd Blanchfield, Luca Yates, Isaac White and Emmett Naar.

Then there was a late season change in coach with the departure of X and with Brad Rasmussen eventually taking over once he was able to after originally Jerron Jamerson held down the fort.

The Meteors still finished in fifth position by the end of the regular season with an 8-6 record to set up their quarter-final match up with a Spartans team who finished fourth with the identical record on the back of four straight victories.

It was Mackay who had the better of proceedings for a lot of the first half opening up an 11-point lead by quarter-time and then leading by 14 points early in the second term.

That's when Southern Districts fired up to close the first half on fire including going on a 9-0 run and putting up 33 points in the quarter to cut the Mackay lead to 51-48 by the main break.

Mackay managed to open up another eight-point lead in the third term and were still eight points up early in the fourth, and the Meteors were also leading by six with seven minutes to go.

However, the rest of the way saw Southern Districts turn the game on its head outscoring Mackay 30 points to 12 and it wasn’t just the shots they were hitting.

Possession after possession, the Spartans stripped the Meteors of the ball or forced turnovers and in the end in the fourth quarter alone, created five steals, blocked two shots and pulled down six offensive rebounds to turn that eight-point deficit into the 12-point win the space of eight minutes.

The win will give Southern Districts plenty of momentum to take into the semi-final against the Gold Coast Rollers next Saturday night with a spot in the grand final series on the line.

Tamuri Wigness was brilliant once more in the win for the Spartans with 33 points, 12 assists, eight rebounds and three steals on 11/22 shooting from the field, 3/6 from downtown and 8/10 at the foul line.

Max Kerle added 19 points, six steals, three assists and two rebounds, Blake Jones 18 points, 13 boards, two assists and two steals, Matt Hodgson 14 points, five rebounds and two blocks, and Darcy Ryder nine points, four assists, three boards and two steals.

The eventful championship defence of the Meteors has now come to a close despite Jerron Jamerson delivering 19 points and five rebounds in just 16 minutes.

Makuach Maluach added 17 points, eight rebounds, five steals and four assists, Manny Malou 17 points, four assists and two boards, Jaxon Brenchley 15 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals, Akol Mawein nine points and five boards, and Cameron Goldfinch nine points, two rebounds and two assists.

SOUTHERN DISTRICTS SPARTANS 108 (Wigness 33, Kerle 19, Jones 18)

MACKAY METEORS 96 (Jamerson 19, Maluach 17, Malou 17)