South Spotlight | Cavs win battle of shorthanded teams

Featured image: Shane Panther | @shanejpg.sport

With both their rosters decimated this week despite having locked in NBL1 South playoff spots, it was quite the Sunday battle that saw the Casey Cavaliers prevail 59-49 over Keilor Thunder with Sam Bowman and Chelsea D'Angelo the standouts.

The two teams arrived at Keilor Stadium well short of full strength with the Thunder missing Issie Bourne, Izzy Wightman and Maddy Rocci while there was no Sharne Robati, Nya Lok and Dallas Loughridge for the Cavaliers.

There was still plenty on the line, though, and it was Casey on top most of the way leading by two points at quarter-time, by 14 at half-time, by 12 at three quarter-time and ending up winning by 10.

The win improves the Cavs to 14-6 having split their weekend with the Thunder now 13-7 with both having two games left over the last two weekends.

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With the players missing for both teams, it was always going to be intriguing to see who stepped up and which team could pull together enough to get what could be a crucial win by season's end.

Neither team found much in the way of offence with Casey's 59 points on the back of shooting 30 per cent from the field while going 7/34 from downtown and just 4/6 at the foul line while Keilor scored 49 on 29 per cent shooting with 4/29 from beyond the arc, and 9/12 at the foul line.

The Cavaliers collected 21 offensive rebounds to 15 and forced the Thunder into 18 turnovers which did help them get up 18 more shot attempts that was pivotal in the eventual win.

Sam Bowman had 18 points and 11 rebounds to half-time and finished with 20 points, 14 boards, four assists and four steals for the game despite dealing with a cut to her hand.

Chelsea D'Angelo also had 19 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals despite shooting 6/28 from the field and 3/12 from downtown.

Kassie Boorer added eight points, eight rebounds and two steals, and Mica Nightingale six points and four boards.

It was tough going for Keilor without their superstars and coach Kristi Harrower having to play all five starters at least 27 minutes including Macey Boyle for all 40 with just two players available off the bench.

Lara McSpadden did finish with 13 points, nine rebounds and two assists with Kasey Burton adding 12 points, 13 boards, two steals and two blocks, Tess Heal 11 points, five rebounds and two assists,  and Boyle seven points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Keilor were making their only appearance of the weekend with Casey coming off a loss on Saturday to Kilsyth with both teams significant below strength, it was all about which team could dig deep the most for an important win in the context of the season.

Sam Bowman came up huge in the first quarter for the Cavaliers with 11 points and six rebounds but it was still a tight contest with her team leading 19-17 by quarter-time with both teams shooting at 47 per cent.

The Cavs did then pull away in the second term with 20 points to eight even with shooting 8/24 from the field, but they did get up nine extra shots than the Cavs on the back nine offensive rebounds to half-time and forcing the Thunder into 10 turnovers.

That saw Casey leading 39-25 by half-time with Bowman up to 18 points and 11 rebounds with Chelsea D'Angelo having 15 points, six assists and four boards.

Keilor did battle hard with 15 points to 13 in the third frame but then both teams found the going decidedly tough in the fourth.

The Thunder scored just nine points on 2/18 shooting and the Cavaliers going 3/20 but still the visitors were able to secure the 10-point win that might not have been pretty, but could be crucial come the end of the season.

Keilor now hit the road to take on the Mount Gambier Pioneers on Friday night while Casey are back one also on Friday against the Dandenong Rangers.

NBL1 SOUTH 2026 SEASON | FIRST NATIONS ROUND

KEILOR THUNDER 49 (McSpadden 13, Burton 12, Heal 11)

CASEY CAVALIERS 59 (Bowman 20, D'Angelo 19, Boorer 8)