North Spotlight | Puisis shoots Meteorettes to pivotal win

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The Mackay Meteorettes confirmed their NBL1 North playoff spot and remain a chance to still jump a couple of spots in the last round after Sunday's 88-59 win over the Sunshine Coast Phoenix on seven first-half three balls from Sammie Puisis.

It always shaped as a potentially season-defining game for both teams on Sunday at Mackay Basketball Stadium with the Meteorettes playing their lone game of the round and Sunshine Coast having lost to the Rockhampton Cyclones the previous night.

That left Mackay 8-5 and the Phoenix 7-7 coming into the game so it was a must-win affair for the Sunshine Coast but the Meteorettes got on top early and never looked back.

Mackay were leading by 20 at half-time with 23 points and seven threes already from Puisis before then going on with it with 24 points to nine in the fourth quarter to win by 29.

The Meteorettes are now 9-5 with the win to snap a three-game losing run with the Phoenix remaining outside the top six at 7-8 with the pair of road losses this weekend.

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Mackay finished up shooting 41 per cent from the field to 32 from Sunshine Coast along with hitting 12/37 from the outside to just 1/16 from the Phoenix whose lone triple came from Amy Browne in the opening period.

Mackay also forced Sunshine Coast into 18 turnovers to end up taking nine more shots on the way to the 29-point win with Sammie Puisis having 21 points and 7/14 three-point shooting to half-time and 26 on 8/17 by the end of the afternoon.

River Baldwin also had another 22 points, 14 rebounds and three assists, Monique Bobongie 18 points, eight boards, four assists and two steals, Eden Catip eight points and three rebounds, and Cheyenne Bobongie seven points, five assists and four boards.

The loss could well have ended the playoff aspirations of the Phoenix with Erin Bollmann finishing with 24 points, 13 rebounds, four steals and three assists.

Kayla Mathews also had 12 points, six rebounds and three assists, Maya price eight points and five boards.

The stakes couldn’t have been higher coming into the contest with the two teams locked in a fight over a playoff sport with the Meteorettes having lost three straight and Sunshine Coast losing in Rockhampton the previous night.

That set up quite the match up and on their home floor and playing their lone game of the weekend it was the Meteorettes starting the better with 26 points to 17 in the first quarter.

Sammie Puisis had 11 of those points to help Mackay work on top and then she kept on her hot shooting in the second frame with the home team going up by as much as 23 when they completed a 16-0 scoring run.

That saw Mackay going into half-time leading 50-30 with Puisis on fire with 23 points on 7/14 shooting on her own.

Sunshine Coast managed just the 30 points on 30 per cent shooting to go with 10 turnovers even though Erin Bollmann was up to 10 points herself.

Puisis then didn’t score in the third quarter on just one more three-point attempt and Mackay had just the 14 points on 6/20 shooting in the term with Sunshine Coast getting back in the contest with 20 points on 8/17 shooting including 10 more points to Bollmann.

That had the Phoenix back within striking distance down 14 at three quarter-time, but the Meteorettes pulled away once more with 24 points to nine in the final period with 8/17 shooting to the 4/19 from Sunshine Coast.

That saw Mackay secure the 29-point win to consolidate their playoff spot and leave the Sunshine Coast looking on at the top six from the outside after their double loss weekend.

Mackay now finish the regular season on the road to the South West Metro Pirates and Gold Coast Rollers next weekend while Sunshine Coast are at home to the Northside Wizards on Saturday night.

NBL1 NORTH 2026 SEASON | FIRST NATIONS ROUND

MACKAY METEORETTES 88 (Puisis 26, Baldwin 22, M Bobongie 18)

SUNSHINE COAST PHOENIX 59 (Bollmann 24, Mathews 12, Price 8)