North Spotlight | Dolphins prevail in battle of hot North teams

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The Cairns Dolphins got off to a flying start but Monique Bobongie almost shot the Mackay Meteorettes to a sixth straight win before Mia Loyd, Brooke Basham and Summah Evans kept their team undefeated in the NBL1 North with the 84-81 win.

The Dolphins were back home at Trinity Ford Stadium looking to stay undefeated this season while Mackay arrived having won five straight including on Friday night in Townsville.

Cairns made a blistering start getting out to a 17-2 opening and they were still leading all night and by 13 early in the fourth quarter but the Meteorettes kept on coming.

Bobongie then hit three triples in less than a minute but Summah Evans responded and Cairns from there were able to hold on with a big block from Mia Loyd on the buzzer to secure the three-point win.

Cairns improve to 6-0 on the season as a result with the Meteorettes now 6-2 and just falling short of what would have been a sixth consecutive victory.

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There were spectacular performances all-round in the win for Cairns led once again from Mia Loyd with 23 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and that massive late block.

Brooke Basham was back from Australian Gangurrus 3x3 duties and just missed a triple double with 18 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and two steals with 4/10 three-point shooting.

Then there was Summah Evans knocking down 6/9 from three-point land on the way to 26 points, seven rebounds and three steals with Teyla Evans contributing seven points, five boards and three assists, and Leichan Williams six points and four rebounds.

Monique Bobongie had a huge second half for Mackay to almost shoot her team to a sixth straight win with five rebounds and three steals with all three of her triples made coming in a minute stretch in the last quarter.

Sammie Puisis also had 23 points and eight rebounds for Mackay, River Baldwin 13 points, seven boards and three assists, Cheyenne Bobongie four points and four assists, and Hannah Jensen three points, five assists and three rebounds.

The Dolphins took control in stunning fashion in the first quarter by going on a 17-0 scoring run to go from two points down to leading by 15, and still being on top 26-16 by quarter-time.

That was with Mia Loyd already having nine points, four rebounds and three assists to her name and it came after the 17-2 start from Cairns with Mackay managing to shoot just 4/17 for the entire first term.

Mackay were on a five-game winning streak, though, and worked back into the contest with 21 points to 20 in the second quarter and that limited Cairns to the 46-37 lead by half-time.

Loyd was up to 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists with Brooke Basham having 16 points, eight boards and seven assists for the Dolphins but the Meteorettes had done well to be only down nine with Sammie Puisis and River Baldwin combining for 21 points.

Cairns again pushed back out to an 18-point lead in the third quarter but Monique Bobongie then fired for Mackay to get them back into the game and the margin was back to 10 by three quarter-time.

The Dolphins were still in control after a triple from Summah Evans with just over six minutes to play to lead by 12 but then Bobongie caught fire spectacularly.

She hit three long balls in less than a minute and suddenly the Meteorettes were only down three and had the momentum and with 2:30 on the clock but another triple from Evans steadied Cairns back to a four-point lead.

From there they were able to secure the three-point win thanks to a huge block on the buzzer from Loyd on Hannah Jensen to top off another spectacular night from her.

The Dolphins remain at home next Saturday night as well to host the Gold Coast Rollers while the Meteorettes will look to return to the winner's list with three straight home games against Northside, North Gold Coast and then a rematch with Cairns.

NBL1 NORTH 2026 SEASON | ROUND 6

CAIRNS DOLPHINS 84 (Evans 26, Loyd 23, Basham 18)

MACKAY METEORETTES 81 (M Bobongie 27, Puisis 23, Baldwin 17)