North Spotlight | Whitt, Le Gassick fire for Rollers

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Preston Le Gassick and James Whitt combined for another 63 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds as the Gold Coast Rollers put on another impressive NBL1 North offensive display to beat the Northside Wizards 118-90.

The Wizards were back home at Northside Indoor Sports Centre trying to stay in finals contention as they played host to a Rollers team in second place and fresh off a 136-point outburst last week against the defending champion Southern Districts Spartans.

Then after scores were tied by quarter-time, Gold Coast took control outscoring Northside 94 points to 66 over the final three quarters for the eventual 28-point victory as they improve to 9-2 on the season to retain their top two position in the NBL1 North by the end of Round 10.

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It was yet another impressive offensive showing from Gold Coast with the 118 points on the back of shooting 58 per cent from the field with 13/28 from three-point territory and 15/20 at the foul line with 28 assists to 10 turnovers.

Northside did battle hard and pulled down 23 offensive rebounds and did end up taking 12 extra shots than the Rollers, but only managed to end up shooting 38 per cent from the field for the afternoon on their home court.

Gold Coast are now 9-2 as a result of the win with Preston Le Gassick outstanding once more ahead of his first NBL season with the New Zealand Breakers. He finished with 33 points, eight assists and five rebounds with 6/12 three-point shooting.

James Whitt had 18 points in the third quarter on his way to 30 for the game with eight assists, seven rebounds and six steals on 15/21 field goal shooting.

Jensen Bradtke added 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists, Brodie McGregor 12 points, four boards and two assists, Ashley McGrath 10 points, and Boston Mazlin 10 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Northside are now facing an uphill battle to stay in the finals mix at 3-8 with Quintin Dove having 15 first-quarter points on his way to 29 for the game with seven rebounds and two assists.

Tyler Williams added 15 points, seven rebounds and two assists, Durrell McDonald 11 points and three assists, Jed Richardson nine points and 13 rebounds, and Mitch Standon eight points and two boards.

Gold Coast came into the game needing to keep winning to stay in the top two while Northside were just trying to stay in finals contention, and by the end of the first quarter the scores were locked at 24-24.

Quintin Dove had 15 of those points for the Wizards while Preston Le Gassick already had 11 points for the Rollers.

Gold Coast then began to work on top in the second frame with 28 points to 20 with 12/22 shooting while the Wizards did get another eight points from Dove but were just shooting 7/20 for the term.

The Rollers went into half-time leading 52-44 with Le Gassick up to 16 points while Jensen Bradtke and James Whitt having 10 apiece.

Gold Coast then delivered another 32 points to 22 in the third period with Whitt adding 18 points in a scintillating performance with the Rollers going into three quarter-time leading 84-66 as a result.

That lead then blew out to 30 in the last quarter for the Rollers as they secured the eventual 28-point win on another afternoon of showcasing their firepower.

Northside remain at home on Saturday night to play host to the South West Metro Pirates while Gold Coast remain on the road to take on the Brisbane Capitals also on Saturday.

NBL1 NORTH 2026 SEASON | ROUND 10

NORTHSIDE WIZARDS 90 (Dove 29, Williams 15, McDonald 11)

GOLD COAST ROLLERS 118 (Le Gassick 33, Whitt 30, Bradtke 14)