South Spotlight | Dart shoots Eltham to important win

Featured image: MJB Photography

Lil Dart knocked down six triples for 27 points and led the Eltham Wildcats to the 89-79 road win against the Hobart Chargers to start their NBL1 South double to stay in the top two hunt.

The Chargers were back home at Hutchins with little room for error if they wanted to stay in the finals hunt while the Wildcats remained knocking on the door of a top two position.

Dart already had four three-pointers to her name by half-time and Eltham did retain a degree of control for most of the contest just because of their better efficiency even though the Chargers were pressuring them well and were getting up more shot attempts.

In the end the Wildcats completed the deal on the 10-point victory to improve to a 13-4 record to remain right in the top two hunt while the Chargers fall further from playoff contention at 6-12 having lost the past three.

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Eltham now join the Knox Raiders on that 13-4 record with the victory on the back of shooting 54 per cent for the game to just 41 from the Chargers as they overcome having 16 turnovers to just five, and Hobart getting up an extra eight shot attempts.

Lil Dart had 27 points, five rebounds and three assists in the win for Eltham with 6/11 three-point shooting with Bec Pizzey providing another 15 points, eight boards, four assists and two steals.

Sara-Rose Smith also had 13 points, 11 rebounds and two assists, Mackenzie Smith 11 points, two rebounds and two steals, and Sarah Elsworthy nine points, six assists and four boards.

Sharna Thompson top scored in the finish for Hobart with 26 points, four rebounds and three assists with 5/10 three-point shooting with Tyia Singleton adding 14 points and four boards, and Chloe Broomhall 13 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists.

Portia Chopping also had eight points and five assists, and Emerson Wells eight points and three assists.

Hobart came into the game needing a win to keep their season alive while Eltham also needed a win to stay in the top four and try to break into the top two, and by the end of the first quarter it was the Wildcats narrowly leading 26-23.

The Chargers fired back by going on an 11-0 coring run and opened up their own eight-point lead in the second frame as a result before the Wildcats still managed to be leading 45-40 by half-time on the back of 16 points with 4/6 three-point shooting from Lil Dart.

Sharna Thompson up the other end had 15 points for Hobart too but the Wildcats were on top on the back of shooting 56 per cent from the field to 38 but the Chargers stayed in touch by getting up eight extra shots and having just one turnover and forcing Eltham into seven of them.

Dart had another eight points in the third quarter for Eltham as the visitors built their lead to nine points by three quarter-time before then going up by as much as 15 in the last term on the way to the eventual 10-point victory to start their road double.

Hobart now don't play again until hosting the Melbourne Tigers next Saturday night while Eltham back up on Saturday night in Tasmania to take on the Northern Force.

NBL1 SOUTH 2026 SEASON | ROUND 12

HOBART CHARGERS 79 (Thompson 26, Singleton 14, Broomhall 13)

ELTHAM WILDCATS 89 (Dart 27, Pizzey 15, S Smith 13)