South Recap | Round 15 Sunday

Image credit: @In2Action Photography-Jodie Rawiri

Lauren Scherf fired as Frankston Blues locked in a home elimination final against Diamond Valley Eagles in NBL1 South while Sandringham Sabres and Ballarat Miners men ensured they start playoffs in strong form.

SOUTH RECAP | ROUND 15 SATURDAY

SOUTH RECAP | ROUND 15 FRIDAY

SOUTH RECAP | ROUND 15 TUESDAY

WOMEN

Diamond Valley Eagles (64) lost to Frankston Blues (97)

The big guns of the Frankston Blues again starred with Lauren Scherf leading the way as they took advantage of the shorthanded Diamond Valley Eagles to win 97-64 in what is now an elimination final preview.

Both teams were locked into making the playoffs coming into the match up at Diamond Valley Sports and Fitness Centre but it was going to be tough going for the Eagles even at home with both Steph Reid and Abbey Ellis with the Australian Opals at the FIBA Asia Cup in China.

Frankston, meanwhile, were in an impressive run of form having won their past three matches including a win on Friday against the Mount Gambier Pioneers before taking on the Eagles on Sunday to close the regular season.

The Blues kept their impressive form going to open the game with 26 points to 19 in the first quarter before another 24 to 15 in the second term which saw the lead get out to 16 points, and then Frankston went into half-time on top 50-34.

That lead only continued to grow for the Blues getting out to as much as 20 points in the third quarter, and 33 in the fourth on the way to the eventual 33-point victory.

In a fascinating turn of events, Frankston finishes the season in sixth place at 14-8 and Diamond Valley in seventh at 14-8 too with the Blues to host the Eagles now in an elimination final this Saturday night.

Lauren Scherf has been on a mission since returning from her suspension and delivered another 27 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and three steals.

Marta Hermida also had 22 points, nine assists, four rebounds and two steals for Frankston, Emily Monaghan 18 points, four boards and three assists, and Lou Brown 17 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals.

The Eagles should now regain Steph Reid and Abbey Lewis for the finals after Tayha Watkins had 19 points, four rebound and two assists on Sunday.

Lara McSpadden also had 14 points, 14 rebounds and three assists, Erin Riley 12 points, four assists and two steals, Sophie Byrnes eight points, and Carly Turner seven points, four rebounds and three assists.

DIAMOND VALLEY EAGLES 64 (Watkins 19, McSpadden 14, Riley 12)

FRANKSTON BLUES 97 (Scherf 27, Hermida 22, Monaghan 18)

Casey Cavaliers (88) defeated Ballarat Miners (59)

The Casey Cavaliers finished off their season in impressive fashion with the 88-59 home win against the Ballarat Miners.

Both the Cavs and Miners were out of finals contention coming into their last game of the regular season on Sunday at Casey Stadium but both were keen to try and finish off in positive fashion.

The Cavs came into the contest fresh off beating the Melbourne Tigers back on Friday night while Ballarat arrived having lost their past two matches including on Saturday away to the Knox Raiders.

Casey got off to the flying start with 25 points to 11 in the first quarter on the back of shooting 9/9 at the foul line with Ballarat not getting the stripe once.

The Cavaliers continued that momentum with another 27 points to 15 in the second term which included them completing a 15-0 scoring run to open up a 27-point advantage.

Casey went on to be leading 52-25 at half-time on the back of that before then opening up a 32-point lead in the second half before securing the 29-point victory to close their season on a winning note.

The Cavs finished the season with an 11-11 record with the double win weekend to close things off with Ahlise Hurst delivering 19 points, three rebounds and two steals with 4/9 three-point shooting.

Sabrina Haines added 14 points, six rebounds and two assists, Sharne Robati 13 points, seven boards and two assists, Brooke Malone 11 points and four rebounds, Lauryn Hippolite nine points and two boards, and Hailey Wynd six points and 11 rebounds.

Ballarat finish with a 7-15 record and having lost their past three matches with Kaleena Lewis finishing with 19 points and 12 rebounds while Micah Simpson had eight points and six assists, Ally Knights eight points, three rebounds and three assists, and Laura Taylor seven points and 11 boards.

CASEY CAVALIERS 88 (Hurst 19, Haines 14, Robati 13)

BALLARAT MINERS 59 (Lewis 19, Simpson 8, Knights 8)

Sandringham Sabres (106) defeated Bendigo Braves (64)

It will a frustrating off-season for the Sandringham Sabres just because of how good they can be which they showed with the 106-64 win over the Bendigo Braves despite just falling short of playing finals.

The Sabres have shown that their best basketball this season can take it to any team in the competition which has included wins over Frankston and Knox, and only a seven-point defeat at the hands of the undefeated Geelong.

However, coming into Sunday's game at Southern Basketball Stadium against the Braves and they were out of contention of playing finals as were Bendigo despite beating the Mount Gambier Pioneers last Friday night.

The Sabres made an impressive start with 24 points to 14 in the first quarter and then dominated further in the second frame with 25 points to 10 to go into the half-time in control leading 50-25.

That trend continued through the second half with the lead for Sandringham getting out to 29 points in the third frame, and 43 in the fourth as they secured the eventual 42-point victory.

The Sabres ended the game shooting 57 per cent from the field with 22/27 from the foul line opposed to the 36 per cent shooting from the Braves with 14/18 at the charity stripe.

Sandringham ends the season in ninth position with a 12-10 record to be agonisingly short of playing finals and missing out only because of a 31-point loss to the Ringwood Hawks back on May 17.

Funda Nakkasoglu finished off her terrific season with the Sabres by producing 23 points and three rebounds with Isis Lopes adding 18 points, eight assists and four steals, and Klara Wischer 17 points, three rebounds and three assists.

Haylee Andrews also had 15 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals, Emma Nankervis 10 points and two boards, Lucy Cochrane 10 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and two blocks, Emma Nankervis 10 points and two boards, and Ella Ongarato nine points, two rebounds and two steals.

Bendigo finishes the season in second last place with a 4-18 record with Taisheka Porchia ending up with 26 points, five rebounds and two steals with 9/15 shooting from the floor and 8/9 at the free-throw line.

Cassidy McLean added 13 points, four rebounds, four steals and two assists, and Poppy Blanch 11points and three boards.

SANDRINGHAM SABRES 106 (Nakkasoglu 23, Lopes 18, Wischer 17)

BENDIGO BRAVES 64 (Porchia 26, McLean 13, Blanch 11)

MEN

Diamond Valley Eagles (91) lost to Frankston Blues (108)

Both teams were able to play with the freedom of just trying to end the season on a winning note and it Kingsley Box and Taane Samuel combining for 55 points as the Frankston Blues beat the Diamond Valley Eagles 108-91.

Both the Eagles and Blues arrived at Diamond Valley Sports and Fitness Centre on Sunday for the last game of their seasons with Diamond Valley still a chance to avoid the wooden spoon with Frankston trying to not end up with four consecutive defeats.

The Blues got off to a flying start with 33 points to 21 in the first quarter with 12/23 shooting to the 9/28 from the Eagles.

It was another 31 points to 13 in the second term for Frankston which saw them in control leading 64-34 at half-time having shot 24/43 from the floor and 10/13 at the foul line opposed to the 14/45 from Diamond Valley with 1/2 free-throw shooting.

Diamond Valley did outscore Frankston 57 points to 44 in the second half but it didn’t stop the Blues ending up scoring the 17-point victory to close their season with the win to end up with a 10-12 record.

Kingsley Box finished with 29 points, five rebounds and three assists with 11/16 shooting from the field while Taane Samuel contributed 26 points, eight boards and four assists, and Michael Harris 19 points, nine assists and six rebounds.

Vincent Monaghan also had 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists, and Henry Peirce 14 points, eight boards and three assists.

Diamond Valley do remain in bottom spot to close the season with a 5-17 record with five straight defeats with Noah Todd finishing with 22 points and five rebounds with 4/9 from behind the three-point arc.

Ryley Haywood added 18 points, three assists and two rebounds, Nathan Poelsma 15 points and three assists, Aleksandar Bandilovski 10 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and two steals, and James Smith eight points, 10 boards, two assists and two steals.

DIAMOND VALLEY EAGLES 91 (Todd 22, Haywood 18, Poelsma 15)

FRANKSTON BLUES 108 (Box 29, Samuel 26, Harris 19)

Casey Cavaliers (73) lost to Ballarat Miners (79)

The Ballarat Miners geared up for their finals assault with a fourth straight win with the 79-73 road victory on Sunday against the Casey Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers were back home at Casey Stadium in their last appearance of the 2025 season looking to finish on a high up against last year's losing grand finalists.

Ballarat arrived having won their past three matches but it was the Cavs who started the better going on a 10-0 scoring run to be leading 26-15 by the end of the first quarter.

The Miners turned things around in the second term with 23 points to 12 and that saw them go into the half-time break all tied up at 38-38 with the Cavs.

The Cavaliers then found themselves leading by a point with six minutes to play when Preston Bungei completed a three-point play but from there the Miners hit back with the next 11 points to turn that one-point deficit into a 10-point lead.

From there Ballarat completed the deal on the eventual six-point victory which sees them finish the regular season with a 14-8 record and four straight wins to set up an elimination final clash with the Melbourne Tigers.

Nick Stoddart put up 25 points and five steals in the win for the Miners with Luke Rosendale adding 19 points and four boards on 3/3 three-point shooting, Majok Majok 10 points and six rebounds, and Mackuei Puondak eight points and four boards.

Casey's season finishes with an 11-11 record with the pair of losses this weekend with Preston Bungei finishing with 19 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Nate Roberts added 13 points, 14 rebounds, two assists and two steals, Ben Waller 11 points and an assist, and Trendon Hankerson 11 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals.

CASEY CAVALIERS 73 (Bungei 19, Roberts 13, Hankerson 11, Waller 11)

BALLARAT MINERS 79 (Stoddart 25, Rosendale 19, Majok 10)

Sandringham Sabres (101) defeated Bendigo Braves (74)

The Sandringham Sabres bounced back from their winning run ending on Friday night with the 101-74 home victory on Sunday against the Bendigo Braves.

The Sabres had won 11 straight before losing to the Eltham Wildcats back on Friday night ahead of being back home at Southern Basketball Stadium on Sunday to close the regular season.

They were playing host to a Bendigo team out of the playoff race with five consecutive defeats with the Sabres starting the better to be leading 28-20 at the end of the opening quarter.

It was another 31 points to 20 in the second term to see Sandringham on top 59-40 at the main break thanks to shooting 21/38 from the field and 12/15 at the foul line to 15/37 and 3/3 from Bendigo.

That lead only continued to grow in the second half for the Sabres with 26 points to nine in the third term and the home team was up by as much as 36 points before the Braves showed some fight in their last appearance of 2025 to cut the final margin back to 27.

Sandringham finish the season in sixth position with a 14-8 record having won 12 of their last 13 matches ahead of taking on the Hobart Chargers in a tantalising elimination final match up.

Ben Ayre top-scored for the Sabres with 18 points, 11 assists and six rebounds with Malith Machar adding 17 points and four boards, and the returning Dash Daniels 15 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Fabijan Krslovic also had 15 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, Dane Pineau 10 points and five boards, and Tom Koppens 10 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

Bendigo's season finishes with them in 16th position with an 8-14 record having lost the last six matches with Lual Diing providing 23 points, eight rebounds, four steals, three blocks, two assists and 4/8 three-point shooting.

Isaac Murphy added 16 points, five rebounds and three assists with 4/8 shooting from downtown with Lachlan O'Brien contributing 11 points and three boards, and Billy Smythe 11 points and four rebounds.

SANDRINGHAM SABRES 101 (Ayre 18, Machar 17, Krslovic 15, Daniels 15)

BENDIGO BRAVES 74 (Diing 23, Murphy 16, O'Brien 11, Smythe 11)