North Spotlight | Flames end Thunder's winning run

Courtney Woods was back for the Townsville Flames, she had another big double double and led her team to snapping the winning run of the NBL1 North leading Logan Thunder with the 91-84 victory.

Logan started their double header weekend in Far North Queensland beating the Cairns Dolphins on Friday to move clear further in top spot ahead of taking on the Flames on Saturday at Carmichael Ford Stadium.

The Flames were on top most of the evening but never was there more than seven points separating the two teams and heading into the final quarter it was just a one-point ball game.

Townsville did end up answering every challenge, though, and went on to secure the seven-point victory to improve to a 10-5 record to stay in the top four with Logan still first at 13-2 having split their double up north over the space of 24 hours.

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The top four teams put on quite the spectacle and ensured things stayed fascinating heading towards the finals with Townsville snapping the winning run of Logan

Logan were looking for a 12th straight win while Townsville could guarantee a top four finish with the win setting up what could very well be a preview of a match to open the finals in a couple of weeks.

Even though Logan shot 53 per cent from the field overall to 49, Townsville knocked down 15/31 from downtown to 5/21 while the home team also had 13 offensive rebounds to seven and went on to score the important seven-point win.

It was strong showing from Townsville that will go a long way to securing them a top four finish with Chailee Ward delivering 22 points, three rebounds and three assists with 5/10 three-point shooting.

Ella Tofaeono also had 20 points and 10 rebounds on 9/13 shooting, Courtney Woods 19 points and 12 assists, and Kate Searle nine points, two rebounds and two assists.

Logan remain in top spot at 13-2 despite the loss with Leah Scott producing another 25 points, six rebounds and three assists with 11/19 field goal shooting.

Mikhaela Cann also had 11 points, three rebounds and two assists, Prasayus Notoa 11 points, five boards and four assists, Kendell Heremaia 10 points and four rebounds, Amandine Toi nine points and six assists, and Maddy Allen nine points and two assists.

The Flames gladly welcomed back Courtney Woods and she had nine points in the first quarter to help the home team to the 26-22 lead on the back of shooting 11/18 from the field to the 10/23 from Logan who got 10 points already from Leah Scott.

The Thunder worked on top and led by as much as five points in the second quarter thanks to a 9-0 run but Townsville responded once more to be back on top 48-43 by half-time with 8/17 shooting from behind the arc to just 1/16 from Logan.

Townsville then managed just 12 points on 5/16 shooting in the third quarter while Logan added 16 points on 6/14 to be just one-point down by three quarter-time.

That set the stage nicely for a big finish and it was a high-quality last quarter with the teams combining for 56 points but in the end late three-pointers from Mia Murray and Chailee Ward helped to secure the seven-point win for the Flames to keep them safe in fourth place.

Townsville now finish their regular season at home to the Rockhampton Cyclones next Saturday night while Logan are also at home to the Ipswich Force.

NBL1 NORTH 2026 SEASON | FIRST NATIONS ROUND

TOWNSVILLE FLAMES 91 (Ward 22, Tofaeono 20, Woods 19)

LOGAN THUNDER 84 (Scott 25, Cann 11, Notoa 11)