South Spotlight | Force beat Eagles in Friday thriller

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The Northern Force have ticked off another first in the NBL1 South by winning consecutive games after withstanding 41 points from Abbey Ellis to hold on in a Friday night thriller beating the Diamond Valley Eagles 92-91.

The Force were back home at Ulverstone Sports and Leisure Centre coming off a Sunday road win over the Kilsyth Cobras with the Eagles arriving to start their Tasmanian double on a three-game winning streak, but missing superstar forward Alex Sharp.

The Force got off to a flying start on their home court with 32 points in the first quarter and they were still leading by most of the night including by as much as 21 points, but the Eagles refused to go away.

Ellis was inspiring the Eagles and she helped her team grab the lead in the fourth quarter and she had 28 of her 41 points in the second half, but it all led to a thrilling finish.

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After the teams traded huge blows down the stretch, in the end it was Sarah O'Neill hitting both free throws for the Force that secured the win when Shannon Dufficy was unable to do that up the other end for Diamond Valley making just one of her two.

The Force are now 3-7 on the back of their two straight wins while the Eagles are now 7-3 with their three-match winning run coming to an end.

Parker Hill had a huge night for the Force with 24 points, 13 rebounds and two steals with 8/12 from the field along with 8/8 from the foul line.

Rebekka Kalaydjiev also had 23 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals with Keely Froling contributing 19 points, 15 rebounds and six assists, and Sarah O'Neill 17 points, six assists and three boards.

Abbey Ellis had a huge night trying to help cover the absence of Alex Sharp for Diamond Valley and she put up 41 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals with 16/27 shooting from the field and 8/15 from behind the three-point arc.

Lauren Jones also had 12 points with 4/8 three-point shooting for Diamond Valley with Erin Riley adding 10 points and three rebounds, Isis Beh eight points and six boards, and Shannon Dufficy eight points, eight rebounds and two assists.

The Force were back home following Sunday's road win over the Kilsyth Cobras and they started on fire on Friday night by going on a 10-0 run in the first quarter to open up a lead as big as 17 points along the way.

The home team were still leading 32-18 by quarter-time with Rebekka Kalaydjiev and Sarah O'Neill combining for 14 of those 32 points while they pulled down 16 rebounds to five including six at the offensive end to one.

That lead got out to 21 points for the Force in the second term as well but then the Eagles worked back into the contest and they did make 5/8 from three-point territory in the quarter on their way to putting up 25 points.

The Force did still manage another 21 to be leading 53-43 going into half-time with the home team shooting at 54 per cent to Diamond Valley's 46 along with taking 10 free-throw attempts to three, and still having seven offensive rebounds to three.

Abbey Ellis was doing all she could to keep Diamond Valley in the contest and she scored 11 more points in the third quarter to go to 24 for the game with the Force still clinging to a 69-63 advantage by three quarter-time.

However, it was the Eagles with the momentum after a big triple from Ellis on the buzzer but the Force did well to turn that back around to be back up nine early in the fourth quarter.

Diamond Valley weren’t going away, though, and eventually another three ball from Ellis with five minutes to play had scores all tied up.

Tayha Watkins then also hit from deep 30 seconds later and the Eagles were in front only for Sarah O'Neill to respond with a three ball of her own for the Force.

But still, with 1:30 to play scores were still all square before O'Neill hit two free throws for the Force and then Shannon Dufficy went just 1/2 for the Eagles and that was enough for the home team to hold on for the one-point win.

Both teams back up again to play on Saturday with the Force to host the Dandenong Rangers while the Eagles look to bounce back in Tasmania again against the Hobart Chargers.

NBL1 SOUTH 2026 SEASON | ROUND 7

NORTHERN FORCE 92 (Hill 24, Kalaydjiev 23, Froling 19)

DIAMOND VALLEY EAGLES 91 (Ellis 41, Jones 12, Riley 10)