North Spotlight | Rollers prevail in game of wild swings

Featured image: @catchnkissphotography - Denise Saba

It was a game of wild swings to wrap up Anzac Round in NBL1 North with the Gold Coast Rollers leading by 20 before being down five with three minutes to go and then taking charge of Ipswich Force once more for the dramatic 97-92 home win.

The stars all delivered too with James Whitt and Jensen Bradtke putting in big showings for Gold Coast as did Sam McDaniel and Lachlan Anderson for Ipswich, and it turned out to be quite the dramatic contest.

With Gold Coast leading by as much as 20 points in the first half and then 17 still in the third quarter, the home team appeared in control until Anderson caught fire in spectacular fashion.

He shot Ipswich to a five-point lead that they were still holding with three minutes remaining with them having all the momentum but Gold Coast responded to outscore them 13-3 the rest of the way to secure their first win of 2026 by five points.

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James Whitt had a stunning performance to lead Gold Coast to his first win with 36 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals on shooting 15/22 from the field.

Fresh off an NBL season with the Brisbane Bullets, Jensen Bradtke added 25 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for Gold Coast with Brodie McGregor adding 16 points, four boards and two assists.

Boston Mazlin also had 13 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals.

Ipswich are now 1-1 to start the season unable to quite back up their first up win over the South West Metro Pirates despite the best efforts of Lachlan Anderson with 37 points including 17 in the fourth quarter.

He shot 8/19 from three-point range and 9/11 at the foul line to go with six rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots.

Sam McDaniel also had 19 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Force, Alec Godinet 12 points, Will Mahoney 11 points and three rebounds, and Merrick Small eight points and 13 boards.

Gold Coast hadn’t played since losing to the Logan Thunder the previous Saturday night at home and came out on a mission to make up for that 27-point loss by racing out to a 16-point lead in the first quarter thanks to scoring 15 straight points.

That had the Rollers on top of the Force 30-15 by quarter-time with James Whitt and Jensen Bradtke combining for 18 points with them shooting 50 per cent as a team to 26 along with taking 10 free throws to just three from Ipswich.

Gold Coast's lead got out to as much as 20 in the second quarter and the Rollers were still in control at 50-33 heading into half-time with Whitt and Bradtke continuing to lead the charge combining for 30 points in the first 20 minutes.

Ipswich were warming to the task, though, and with Sam McDaniel's game building to 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists by three quarter-time, and with Lachlan Anderson scoring 10 points in the third period, they got right back into the contest.

Gold Coast were only clinging to the 69-65 advantage heading into the fourth quarter and that's when things really got interesting.

All of a sudden by the time Anderson nailed another three ball for Ipswich they were leading by five halfway through the last quarter and had all the momentum behind them.

He and Bradtke then traded three-pointers to keep the Force up four and once again when he nailed another from deep, Anderson gave Ipswich the five-point lead again with just over three minutes to go.

That's when the game underwent another dramatic twist and the rest of the way it was all Gold Coast and in the last three minutes the home team outscored Ipswich 13 points to three to secure the five-point win on a dramatic afternoon to close the round.

Gold Coast are on the road in a local battle with the North Gold Coast Seahawks on Saturday night while Ipswich will play host to the Mackay Meteors on Saturday as well.

NBL1 NORTH 2026 SEASON | ANZAC ROUND

GOLD COAST ROLLERS 97 (Whitt 36, Bradtke 25, McGregor 16)

IPSWICH FORCE 92 (Anderson 37, McDaniel 19, Godinet 12)