South Finals | Philippe the late hero for Blues

Featured image: Trent Moore Sports Photography

Kynan Philippe hit the biggest shot of the season for the Frankston Blues as they saw off the challenge of the Knox Raiders for the 99-94 NBL1 South qualifying final victory.

Precious little separated the two teams at the end of the regular season with Frankston finishing fourth having won nine of the last 11 games with Knox in fifth winning seven of the last 10 with both ending up on 15-7 records.

They both had the week off to start the finals ahead of the qualifying final on Saturday night at Jubilee Park Stadium with a place in a preliminary final on the line.

Frankston took control early in the piece with a 7-0 run helping them to a 10-point lead by quarter-time on the back of shooting 9/20 from the field to 5/15 from Knox.

The Raiders then got going in the second term putting up 33 points on 13/23 shooting from the field and 5/6 free-throw shooting with Trazarien White and Kobe Williamson both up to 10 points by half-time.

But the Blues did still score another 28 points in the second term as well on 11/219 shooting with 4/8 from the outside to be leading 53-48 at the main break with Jack Stanwix scoring 11 points and Jeremy Combs 10.

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Frankston again got out to an 11-point lead in the third quarter but Knox hit back with a 7-0 run of their own and even managed to briefly get back in front with Williamson scoring another 10 points in the term.

But the Blues were back in front 74-69 by three quarter-time and then once more that lead for the home team was out to 13 points in the final term with just under four minutes to play when Combs scored once more.

But Knox weren’t going to let their season slip away and Brody Nunn started their run with a three-pointer before White followed suit and then so did Williamson to suddenly make it a four-point margin again with two minutes to go.

Free throws from White and Brandon Slater then had the Raiders back within a point with a minute left but then with 13.7 seconds left the biggest shot of the night was a three-point bomb from Kynan Philippe.

That gave Frankston the four-point lead again and they went on to win by five to advance to a preliminary final on the road next Saturday night to the Melbourne Tigers.

Jeremy Combs ended up top scoring for the Blues with 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals with Jack Stanwix contributing 18 points, six boards, two assists and two steals.

Kynan Philippe also had 16 points with 3/6 shooting from the outside including the game winner while Corey Hastings added 13 points with 4/7 three-point shooting, Lucas Barker 11 points and eight assists, and Dibaji Walker 11 points, three rebounds and three steals.

It's season over for the Raiders who bow out in the same stage for a second straight season after winning the National Finals on the Sunshine Coast back in 2024.

Trazarien White produced another 23 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals for Knox with Kobe Williamson adding 23 points, 15 boards, six blocks and two assists.

Brandon Slater also had 15 points and four rebounds, and Brody Nunn 14 points and six assists while hitting 4/6 from the outside.

NBL1 SOUTH 2026 SEASON | QUALIFYING FINAL

FRANKSTON BLUES 99 (Combs 19, Stanwix 18, Philippe 16)

KNOX RAIDERS 94 (White 23, Williamson 23, Slater 15)