South Finals | Eagles advance with Abbey's 40

Featured image: Shane Panther | @shanejpg.sport

Abbey Ellis backed up making the NBL1 South All-First Team with a 40-point outburst to lead the Diamond Valley Eagles to the 99-85 elimination final win over the Ballarat Miners who had done a strong job to get back to the post-season under Brendan Joyce.

There had been times throughout the season where the Eagles and Miners both were on track for a top six finish to earn the first week of the finals but in the Diamond Valley finished seventh at 14-8 and Ballarat 10th at 12-10.

That saw them do battle in the elimination final at Diamond Valley Sports and Fitness Centre with the Eagles getting the better of the start to be leading 24-18 by quarter-time with Isis Beh already having eight points for the home team.

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Diamond Valley then put up another 26 points to 19 in the second quarter while going on an 11-0 run to lead 50-37 by half-time with Abbey Ellis scoring 12 points in the term to go into the locker room with 18 to her name.

That lead for the Eagles got out to 16 points in the third quarter and that's where it remained by three quarter-time with the 77-61 with Ellis having another 13 points in the term to already be up to 31 with seven three-pointers for the home team.

The Miners did their best to try and mount a fightback in the fourth quarter but in the end the Eagles did enough to hold firm for the 14-point victory and keep their season alive to set up a qualifying final next Saturday night away to the Eltham Wildcats.

Diamond Valley ended up shooting 51 per cent for the game to 46 while hitting 13/31 from the outside to 10/33 along with 14/17 from the foul line to 9/11 while also forcing Ballarat into 20 turnovers.

It was a spectacular performance from Abbey Ellis after she was named to the All-First Team as she put up 40 points with seven assists on shooting 14/23 from the field, 7/14 from the outside and 5/7 at the free-throw line.

Shannon Dufficy also had 17 points and two steals with 3/5 three-point shooting, Alex Sharp nine points, 10 boards, six assists and two steals, and Isis Beh eight points, five rebounds and two blocks with all eight of her points coming in the opening quarter.

It's the season over for Ballarat in the first season with Australian basketball great Brendan Joyce as coach and he got them back to the playoffs after a down year in 2025 following a preliminary final appearance in 2024.

Malia Fisher ended up with 24 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two steals on 10/15 field goal shooting for the Miners with Abbey Wehrung delivering another 21 points and seven assists with 5/12 shooting from the outside after a season that saw her named to the All-Second Team.

Camille Hobby also had 17 points, seven rebounds and two assists, Elissa Brett 12 points, seven boards, five assists and two steals, and Casey Samuels 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

NBL1 SOUTH 2026 SEASON | ELIMINATION FINAL

DIAMOND VALLEY EAGLES 99 (Ellis 40, Dufficy 17, Sharp 9)

BALLARAT MINERS 85 (Fisher 24, Wehrung 21, Hobby 17)