South Spotlight | Force are on the board

Featured image: @shotsbyrama

The Bendigo Braves might have been missing their big name guns but that matters little to the Northern Force who made it a night to celebrate in Launceston as they scored a first NBL1 South win with the 78-70 victory.

The Force were playing host to the Braves at Elphin Sports Stadium having lost their first six games this season since the rebrand from the Tornadoes with Bendigo arriving off an inspired win over the Nunawading Spectres.

Key to that all-time great point guard Kelly Wilson, but she wasn’t there on Friday night and nor were Kelsey Griffin and Georgia Booth, but still the Braves led for a lot of the night.

Bendigo led by two points at quarter-time, by five at half-time and still by three at three quarter-time, but then it was all the Force in the final period.

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To the delight of their home fans, the Force had 19 points to eight in the fourth quarter to secure that breakthrough win having been down by as much as 12 in the third quarter.

It was a dominance in the possession game where the Force eventually wore down the Braves with them taking an extra 21 field goals on the back of 19 offensive rebounds to seven, and forcing a Bendigo team without the cool head of Wilson into 25 turnovers.

Rebekka Kalaydjiev delivered 19 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists with 3/5 three-point shooting and going 8/8 from the charity stripe in the breakthrough win for the Force.

Sarah O'Neill also ended up with 17 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals, Keely Froling 17 points, seven boards and seven assists, Parker Hill 15 points, seven rebounds and two steals, and Josie Pinkerton 10 points, five boards, four assists and two steals.

The Braves led for just about the entire first three quarters but just ran out of gas despite the best efforts of Olivia Pollerd who delivered 29 points and eight rebound with 3/6 three-point shooting and going 6/6 at the free-throw line.

Ahlise Hurst had 10 points in the first quarter and finished the night with 25 with four assists, three rebounds and three steals on 4/7 shooting from beyond the arc.

Jess Smith also had 10 points, five rebounds and two assists, and Mia Harvey four points, five boards and five assists.

The Force were chasing their first win in the NBL1 South and even if their cause was helped with no Kelsey Griffin or Kelly Wilson for Bendigo, it was the Braves still leading 16-14 by quarter-time.

Bendigo shot 43 per cent to the 24 from the Force in that opening quarter with Ahlise Hurst having 10 of those 16 points for Braves as well.

The scoring rate picked up for both teams in the second term with a combined 53 points and it was Bendigo scoring 28 of those on shooting 8/15 from the field, 3/5 from downtown and 9/10 at the free-throw line.

That's why the Braves were still able to lead 44-39 by half-time despite the 12 turnovers with the Force keeping themselves in the contest with the nine offensive rebounds that helped them get up 14 more shot attempts despite just going at 30 per cent from the floor.

The Force did manage to find more of their shooting touch again in the third quarter going 8/13 from the field and outscored Bendigo 20 points to 18 to close their lead to three by three quarter-time and their first win was looking a real possibility.

Then suddenly in the fourth quarter it was all the Force and they outscored the Braves 19 points to eight while the Braves ran out of gas without their two guns going just 2/12 from the field and 0/5 from downtown in the final quarter.

That saw the Force survive some nervey moments late to secure the nine-point win to get on the board in the NBL1 South to the delight of their home fans.

The Force now get to enjoy the spoils of victory until a double-header in Melbourne next weekend against the Knox Raiders and Kilsyth Cobras while Bendigo remain in Tasmania to play the Hobart Chargers on Saturday.

NBL1 SOUTH 2026 SEASON | ROUND 5

NORTHERN FORCE 78 (Kalaydjiev 19, O'Neill 17, Froling 17)

BENDIGO BRAVES 70 (Pollerd 29, Hurst 25, Smith 10)