North Spotlight | Unbeaten Spartans crush winless Pirates

Featured image: @taylorearnshaw.photog

The Southern Districts Spartans scored 21 of the first 25 points and retained control from there to stay unbeaten this NBL1 North season and to keep the South West Metro Pirates winless with the 82-53 victory.

The two teams came into the Friday night match up at Hibiscus Sports Stadium in totally contrasting form with the Pirates still chasing a first win after a tough finish to 2025 as well while the Spartans are yet to lose in 2026 after a heartbreaking Grand Final series loss last year.

Southern Districts dominated the game from the outset to lead 21-4 late in the first quarter and ending up holding South West Metro to just seven points on 2/17 shooting in the opening term.

That set the tone for the rest of the evening with the Spartans going on to win by 29 points and improve to 5-0 on the season as a result with the Pirates now 0-4 in what was their first home appearance of 2026.

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It was a dominant showing from the Spartans with 46 per cent field goal shooting along with going 9/22 from beyond the arc and 17/23 at the foul line.

Abby Solway finished with 19 points and four assists, Hayley McDowell-White 15 points on 3/5 three-point shooting, and Kalani Purcell 13 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals with 10 of her points in the opening term.

Jess McDowell-White also had 10 points, six rebounds and five assists, Paige Bayliss eight points and four boards, Karli Derksen seven points and three rebounds, and Emily Preston six points, eight boards, three assists and two blocked shots.

It was a tough night for the winless Pirates against the unbeaten Spartans and they finished up only shooting 28 per cent from the field with 7/24 from downtown and 6/10 at the foul line.

Hannah Simental had 10 points to half-time and finished with 12 while Jovana Ilic added nine points and nine rebounds while hitting her only three-point attempt.

Alana Fraser also had seven points and two assists, and Charlotte Whittaker seven points, 12 rebounds and five assists.

It was a dominant start right from the outset for the Spartans with a 10-2 beginning which turned into 21-4 and then 24-7 by the end of the first quarter.

Going into quarter-time and Kalani Purcell and Jess McDowell-White had combined for 18 points for Southern Districts with them shooting 58 per cent from the field with 3/5 from downtown and 7/8 at the foul line.

It was a horror start at home for South West Metro with just the seven points on 2/17 shooting and six turnovers.

The Pirates did at least manage to find a bit of offence in the second quarter with 18 points on 7/20 shooting with 4/10 from downtown but the Spartans scored another 22 up the other end to extend their advantage to 46-25 heading into half-time.

That lead blew out to 26 early in the third quarter for Southern Districts but to South West Metro's credit, they managed a 7-0 run and even outscored the Spartans 16 to 15 in the third quarter in the end.

But Southern Districts got going again in the last term and finished with another 21 points to 12 on the way to the eventual 29-point victory to keep their undefeated start to the season going and to keep the Pirates winless in 2026.

The Pirates will now try to regroup and try to respond on the road next Saturday to the Gold Coast Rollers with the Spartans having the quick turnaround to hosting the Northside Wizards on Saturday night.

NBL1 NORTH 2026 SEASON | ROUND 4

SOUTH WEST METRO PIRATES 53 (Simental 12, Ilic 9, Fraser 7, Whittaker 7)

SOUTHERN DISTRICTS SPARTANS 82 (Solway 19, H McDowell-White 15, Purcell 13)