South Spotlight | Eltham lock down Keilor for Wednesday win

Featured image: @traviphotography

The Eltham Wildcats put the clamps on Keilor Thunder holding them to 27 per cent shooting and forcing them into 25 turnovers on the way to the 68-44 Wednesday night NBL1 South victory.

The two teams did battle prior to the Easter break at Montmorency Secondary College with the Wildcats starting their 2026 season back on Saturday night with a road loss to the Diamond Valley Eagles while the Thunder produced a stunning one-point win over the defending champion Knox Raiders.

Maddy Rocci was brilliant in that first up win for Keilor with 37 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists but she found the going tougher against Eltham on Wednesday night as did the rest of her team with the Wildcats already leading 19-10 by the end of one.

Eltham were only leading by six at half-time having been up by as much as 14, but then dominated with 38 points to 20 in the second half on the way to the 24-point win.

While the Wildcats' offence never fully clicked either with just the 36 per cent shooting and going 6/33 from deep, they were able to hold Keilor to 27 per cent with 2/16 from three along with the 25 turnovers from which they scored 13 points.

Lil Dart ended up top-scoring in the win for Eltham with 16 points with four rebounds, four assists and two steals despite shooting 6/17 from the field and 2/11 from downtown.

Bec Pizzey also provided 15 points, 14 rebounds and two assists while Sara-Rose smith had a hot start with eight points in the first quarter on the way to 10 for the game along with seven boards and three steals.

Mackenzie Smith added eight points and three rebounds, Georgia Dale eight points and three boards, and Jayde Cadee seven points, three rebounds and two assists.

Maddy Rocci couldn’t quite replicate her heroics from Saturday night and finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals for Keilor on 3/19 shooting from the field with eight turnovers.

Izzy Wightman also finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks for the Thunder with Nikki Metcalfe contributing six points and four boards, and Tess Barnes six points, five rebounds and two assists.

It was a commanding start in the opening quarter from Eltham as they put up 19 points even while only shooting 35 per cent from the field with 1/9 from deep.

Sara-Rose Smith had eight of those points and their seven offensive rebounds helped them take 10 extra shots to be leading the Thunder 19-10 after one with Keilor shooting just 4/16 with the seven turnovers in the first 10 minutes.

Things dried up for Eltham in the second quarter and they managed just the 11 points on 4/17 shooting with six turnovers, but they were still leading 30-24 head into half-time.

By half-time, Keilor were struggling with just the 24 points on 26 per cent shooting with 12 turnovers and only the four free-throw attempts with Maddy Rocci having nine points on 3/14 shooting.

The Wildcats then took further control of the contest in the third quarter with 22 points to 10 to open up an 18-point lead and to force the Thunder into another seven turnovers for the period.

Eltham were able to complete the job with 16 points to 10 in the fourth quarter too on the way to the commanding 24-point win to head into the Easter break feeling good about things on their home floor.

The Wildcats will be in action again next Thursday night on the road to the Ringwood Hawks with the Thunder back at home to take on the Northern Force on Sunday April 12.

NBL SOUTH 2026 SEASON | ROUND 1

ELTHAM WILDCATS 68 (Dart 16, Pizzey 15, Smith 10)

KEILOR THUNDER 44 (Rocci 13, Wightman 12, Metcalfe 6, Barnes 6)