South Finals | Knox make it 14 in-a-row

Featured image: Darren Keane - @darrenkeanephoto

It already was a daunting challenge for the Melbourne Tigers even with their Chinese superstars but without them it proved a bridge too far and Knox Raiders made it 14 straight NBL1 South wins with the 95-51 victory.

The Tigers had become one of the stories of the NBL1 South with the passion and energy created by the presence of Chinese pair Chen Mingling and Yang Shuyu and as a result they booked in their playoff spot in eighth position having won four of their last five games.

However, suddenly they were a totally different looking outfit without the pair for Saturday night's qualifying final against the Raiders at the State Basketball Centre.

Knox had the weekend off to start the finals having finished a game clear in top spot having won their past 13 matches and they were also undefeated at home leaving quite the challenge ahead of the Tigers.

That's how it panned out too with the Raiders going on an 11-0 run in the first quarter, and leading by as much as 16 and being up 28-15 by quarter-time.

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Alicia Froling already had eight points and five rebounds after the first quarter with Knox shooting a scorching 12/19 from the field to just 5/14 from Melbourne.

It was more dominance from the Raiders in the second quarter with another 26 points to 11 and that saw them leading 54-26 by half-time as they continued to show how hard they are going to be to stop being back-to-back champions.

It was another 21 points to 12 in favour of the Raiders in the third quarter and that saw the reigning champs leading 75-38 by three quarter-time with Froling having completed her double double consisting of 16 points and 14 rebounds.

It was more of the same to close out the game with 20 points to 13 in the last term for Knox to see them secure the 44-point victory to make it 14 wins in-a-row ahead of a home preliminary final against the Sandringham Sabres.

The Raiders ended up shooting 51 per cent from the field to 32 from the Tigers along with hitting 17/35 from the outside to 3/18 even with Melbourne going 10/20 at the foul line to Knox's 4/5.

Paige Bradley produced 23 points and eight assists with 5/6 shooting from the outside for Knox with Alicia Froling ending up with 18 points, 16 rebounds and three assists on 9/13 shooting.

Haliegh Reinoehl also had 15 points and nine rebounds, Rachel Bell 13 points on 3/4 shooting from the outside, Agnes Emma-Nnopu 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists, and Paige Burrows eight points and seven assists.

The Tigers' season is now over and they will be left wondering what might have been had they had everyone available with Eve Braslis finishing with 20 points and four rebounds on 7/13 field goal shooting.

Isa Brancatisano added 13 points, six rebounds and six assists, and Hannah Giddey seven points, six boards and four assists.

NBL1 SOUTH 2026 SEASON | QUALIFYING FINAL

KNOX RAIDERS 95 (Bradley 23, Froling 18, Reinoehl 15)

MELBOURNE TIGERS 51 (Braslis 20, I Brancatisano 13, Giddey 7)