North Spotlight | Marlins beat Phoenix after stunning Q4

Featured image: @connectednowau

Two undefeated NBL1 North teams combined for 116 points through three quarters and exploded for 73 in the fourth with Cairns Marlins staying unbeaten with 95-94 win over Sunshine Coast Phoenix thanks to Kobe McDowell-White and Amarco Doyle.

It was a battle of two of the three remaining undefeated NBL1 North teams on Friday night at Maroochydore Stadium with the Marlins playing their first game on the road for 2026 and starting on fire.

Cairns raced out to the 19-6 lead and they did stay in front the rest of the game including by as much as 15 points in the second quarter, 14 in the third and 12 in the fourth.

But Sunshine Coast kept on fighting back into the contest and at the death they had a chance with the last possession to get the game to overtime on their home floor.

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After Kody Stattmann missed two free throws for Cairns that would have iced the game, DeShawn Ross-Paiwan grabbed the rebound and took the ball the length of the floor, drove to the rack and completed the layup.

The only problem was there was just 1.2 seconds left and the game was effectively over with the Phoenix unable to foul the Taipans in time on the inbounds to avoid time running out.

Whether Ross-Paiwan wasn’t aware of the game situation or felt as though there would be time to foul Cairns again for his team to have one more crack at it only he knows, but the Marlins held on to win by a point and improve to 3-0 with Sunshine Coast now 2-1.

Kobe McDowell-White had 19 points to half-time for Cairns on the way to 27 for the game to go with nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals with 5/13 three-point shooting.

Amarco Doyle added 25 points, six rebounds and two assists with 4/8 shooting from behind the arc while Kody Stattmann had another 13 points, four boards and four assists.

Luca Yates also had 16 points, six rebounds and three blocks in the win for the Marlins.

The Phoenix suffered their first loss of the season after trailing all evening at home with Ross-Paiwan finishing with 32 points, eight rebounds and four assists with 11/23 field goal shooting along with going 9/10 at the foul line.

Jamaal Robateau had 14 points to half-time and 20 or the game including 3/5 shooting from downtown with Nelson Kahler contributing 17 points and eight rebounds, Darnell Robateau 12 points and two assists, and Luke Anderson eight points and eight boards.

Cairns arrived having won their first two games at home to start the season with the Phoenix also undefeated setting the stage for the match up and it was the visiting Marlins who made a hot start.

Cairns started the game building a 19-6 lead and by quarter-time Kobe McDowell-White and Amarco Doyle had combined for 16 points on 4/7 three-point shooting, but Sunshine Coast worked back into the contest.

The Phoenix closed the quarter on a 13-5 run with Cairns' lead back to 24-19 at the break despite shooting 60 per cent from the field to 29 from Sunshine Coast.

Cairns again managed to open up a 15-point lead in the second quarter and by half-time McDowell-White had got himself up to 19 points, but once again the Phoenix did stay within touching distance.

Jamaal Robateau's 14 points in the first half helped their cause and by half-time the Marlins were leading 47-38 on 50 per cent shooting from the field to the 33 from the Phoenix.

The scoring dried up in the third quarter with the two teams just combining for 26 points but Sunshine Coast did manage 15 of those to be just five points down by three quarter-time.

Then what happened in the last quarter was nothing short of spectacular but when it was all said and done, Cairns never gave up the lead and Sunshine Coast was never able to get back closer than one point.

In the last quarter alone, the Phoenix put up 39 points on 15/23 shooting from the field and 3/6 from downtown while the Marlins delivered 34 on 12/17 shooting from the floor and 3/7 from behind the arc.

In the end, after Kody Stattmann missed a pair of free throws with Cairns up three, the Phoenix had a chance to send the game to overtime only for DeShawn Ross-Paiwan to drive to the basket and score the layup.

There was just 1.2 seconds left and Cairns was able to run out the clock before Sunshine Coast could foul them for the Marlins to hold on to win and stay undefeated.

Sunshine Coast now don't play again until taking on the Gold Coast Rollers on the road next Sunday while Cairns back up on Saturday against the Northside Wizards.

NBL1 NORTH 2026 SEASON | ROUND 3

SUNSHINE COAST PHOENIX 94 (Ross-Paiwan 32, J Robateau 20, Kahler 17)

CAIRNS MARLINS 95 (McDowell-White 27, Doyle 25, Yates 16)