North Spotlight | Parker-Williams shines in Wizards debut

Featured image: @shoot_nhoops

It wasn’t until the fourth quarter where the Northside Wizards could pull away from the Sunshine Coast Phoenix to open the NBL1 North season with Nes'eya Parker-Williams impressing first up in the 74-65 road win.

It was the first game of the 2026 NBL1 North season with the Phoenix hosting the Wizards at Maroochydore Stadium, and for three quarters precious little separated the two teams.

No more than six points separated them throughout the first three quarters but it was in the last term when the Wizards made their move with 21 points to 15 to open up the only double-digit lead of the game before securing the nine-point victory.

The Wizards missed the finals last year after back-to-back Grand Final appearances but made a solid start to getting back in the mix in 2026 despite shooting just 35 per cent from the field and 5/21 from downtown.

They did pull down 22 offensive rebounds, though, and got to the foul line 21 times to secure the win.

In her first game with not only the Wizards, but also the NBL1 North, Parker-Williams showed what a prized signing she will be for 2026 and delivered a standout performance.

She arrives on the back of growing up in Western Australia and playing with NBL1 West teams the Perth Redbacks and Joondalup Wolves while also having spent time in the WNBL at both her hometown Lynx and Townsville Fire, and more recently playing in Indonesia and Malaysia.

So she comes to the NBL1 North with a strong resume and delivered first up with a team-high 19 points, eight rebounds and three steals.

Kahlaijah Dean also had 18 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals for Northside, Nadeen Payne 16 points, four boards and two assists, and Grace Ellis eight points, 15 rebounds and two assists with 12 of those boards at the offensive end.

Erin Bollmann was up against her former team and had 18 points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists for the Phoenix with Isabel Palmer putting up 13 points and four boards.

Kayla Mathews added eight points, three rebounds and three assists, and Maya Price eight points, four boards and three assists.

Both teams were trying to find their groove in the opening quarter of the NBL1 North season and Sunshine Coast were able to narrowly lead 18-16 by quarter-time on the back of shooting 47 per cent from the field to the 25 from the Wizards.

But Northside stayed in touch thanks to the nine offensive rebounds to one to make up for missing 18 of their 24 shot attempts.

The Wizards were able to shoot slightly better in the second quarter and ended up outscoring the Phoenix 19 points to 14 to go into half-time with the 35-32 advantage thanks to taking an extra nine shots for the half despite just shooting 33 per cent to the 42 from Sunshine Coast.

It remained a tight battle throughout the third quarter with 18 points apiece and by three quarter-time it was the Wizards still clinging to the three-point edge thanks to another six offensive rebounds in that third period.

Northside were then able to take over in the fourth and built the games first double-figure lead along the way to end up scoring the season-opening nine-point victory away from home.

The Phoenix now back up on Saturday to take on the North Gold Coast Seahawks with the Wizards now don't play again until Saturday May 2 at home to the Cairns Dolphins.

NBL1 NORTH 2026 SEASON | ROUND 1

SUNSHINE COAST PHOENIX 65 (Bollmann 18, Palmer 13, Mathews 8)

NORTHSIDE WIZARDS 74 (Parker-Williams 19, Dean 18, Payne 16)