South Spotlight | Abbey wins it for the Miners

Featured image: Trent Moore Sports Photography

The Northern Force produced a huge fourth quarter to get all the way back level thanks to Keely Froling in the dying stages but Abbey Wehrung hit the game winner in the end for the Ballarat Miners for the 77-75 Sunday NBL1 South victory.

The Force saw their six-game winning ended in a double overtime cracker in Mount Gambier back on Friday night while the Miners were back home at Selkirk Stadium fresh off beating the Casey Cavaliers on the road the previous evening.

That set the stage nicely for the Sunday match up and it was the Miners with the flying start with 25 points to 12 in the first quarter before leading by as much as 18 points in the second term, by as much as 16 in the third and still 12 in the fourth.

But Northern are still on the outside of the top 10 despite their six-game winning run they came into this weekend with so they threw everything at a fightback and drew back level with 13 seconds to go when Froling landed a huge three-pointer that banked in.

>> SOUTH SPOTLIGHT | KEILOR SEND MESSAGE BEATING SABRES

>> SOUTH SPOTLIGHT | PIONEERS BLOW FORCE AWAY IN SECOND OT

>> SOUTH SPOTLIGHT | FALCONS MAKE IT FOUR STRAIGHT

>> SOUTH SPOTLIGHT | ROCCI, BOURNE KEEP KEILOR WINNING

>> SOUTH WRAP | WOMEN'S HERITAGE ROUND

Ballarat then had one more chance out of a Brendan Joyce timeout to avoid overtime and the ball was in the hands of Wehrung who drove to the rack and made a tough finish to hit the winner for the Miners.

The win improves Ballarat to 10-7 on the season with the double win weekend with Wehrung finishing with 19 points and seven assists on top of that huge late shot.

Casey Samuels had a hot start on her way to 18 points and six rebounds on 4/8 three-point shooting with Camille Hobby contributing 16 points, 12 boards and four assists, Malia Fisher seven points, nine rebounds and six assists, and Elissa Brett seven points, nine boards and six assists.

The Force are now 7-9 after losing twice on the road this weekend with Keely Froling finishing with 27 points, seven rebounds and four assists while Parker Hill added 18 points, seven boards, two assists and two steals.

Josie Pinkerton also had 10 points and six rebounds, Rebekka Kalaydjiev nine points, five boards and four assists, and Sarah O'Neill nine points, seven assists and four rebounds.

Both teams had already played earlier in the weekend with the Force losing in double overtime on Friday to the Mount Gambier Pioneers while the Miners won on the road to the Casey Cavaliers on Saturday.

Ballarat brought that momentum home with them on Sunday with 25 points to 12 in the first quarter with Casey Samuels scoring 11 of those points on 3/3 three-point shooting.

Ballarat were shooting 9/16 from the field opposed to the 6/19 from the Force for the 13-point advantage by quarter-time.

That lead got out to 18 points in the second term for the Miners but the Force then worked back into the contest and limited the Ballarat lead to 48-38 by half-time with the home team still shooting 53 per cent opposed to 39.

It was another 16-point lead for Ballarat during the third frame and they were still on top 63-51 by three quarter-time but the Force came storming home.

By the time Keely Froling hit a massive three-pointer that went in off the glass with 13 seconds to go, the scores were all tied and the Force had all the momentum, but the Miners had one last possession.

It was Ballarat captain Abbey Wehrung who played the role of the hero making a tough driving layup to break the deadlock and secure the two-point win for the Miners just before the buzzer.

The Miners now are on the road next Saturday night to Geelong United while the Force return home to host the Sandringham Sabres on Friday night.

NBL1 SOUTH 2026 SEASON | ROUND 10

BALLARAT MINERS 77 (Wehrung 19, Samuels 18, Hobby 16)

NORTHERN FORCE 75 (Froling 27, Hill 18, Pinkerton 10)