Logan Thunder clinched the Coles Express NBL1 North Women's Championship - Sep 12, 2021
Logan Thunder clinched the Coles Express NBL1 North Women's Championship with a hard-fought 63-61 victory over Southern Districts Spartans at Rowland Cowan Stadium on Saturday night. With the championship on the line, Thunder forward Chevannah Paalvast (181-G/F-91, college: Monmouth) nailed a three-pointer to level the scores 61-apiece with 29 seconds left in the game. Paalvast, who hit 2 of 2 from beyond the arc, held her nerve in a game where both teams struggled to find their range as the Thunder shot 6 of 22 and the Spartans hit just 3 of 17 from deep. Thunder captain Mikaela Cann, who was named the Grand Final Series most valuable player, scored the go-ahead baskets from the free-throw line before Paalvast stepped up again on the final play with her second block of the game. It was otherwise a scrappy game that had it all, including star players fouled out, multiple technical fouls, gritty and tough defence, and a combined 52 turnovers, as the inaugural champions had to win ugly in game 2 of the Grand Final Series. Thunder centre Mikaela Ruef (191-F-90, college: Stanford) fouled out with her side down 50-49 with 4.53 left in the game. Despite the early finish, the walking double-double tallied 15 points and 12 rebounds. Paalvast joined her with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Cann, the standout player in Game 1, scored 10 of her 14 points in the final quarter including five clutch free throws (7 of 7 from the line for the game). Thunder forward Cassie Carroll also scored 14 points. The top-seeded Spartans led by six points (55-49) with 3.52 left on the clock and looked to be headed for a Game 3 decider with Ruef on the bench. The home side were also in foul trouble with Ashleigh Karaitiana (183-G-92, college: Hawaii) fouled out and they would also lose Kalani Purcell (188-F-95, college: BYU) and Nadeen Payne (188-F/C-93, agency: LBM Management) down the stretch. Payne top scored for the Spartans with 17 points and was backed up by Maddison Rocci (169-PG-98) (16 points) and Madelyn Willey (14 points). Courtesy of: nbl1.com.au
Australiabasket.com All-Australian NBL1 North Awards 2021 - Sep 15, 2021
Finals MVP: Mikhaela Cann of Logan T. Player of the Year: Cayla George (193-C-89) of Mackay M. Youth Player of the Year: Lara McSpadden (193-C-99) of Rockhampton Coach of the Year: Shannon Seebohm of Townsville F.
Australiabasket.com All-Australian NBL1 North 1st Team 2021
Tigers claw on to claim second Championship in Era - Sep 12, 2021
The Southern Tigers have held on with a bunch of clutch plays as they won the inaugural NBL1 Central Womens 87-77 over the North Adelaide Rockets at the St Clair Recreation Centre. The X-Factor for the Tigers in Bianca McCalop started with two triples and along with Jemma Thacker pushed them out to a 10-0 start. Tia Bails then drained a triple before Morgan Yaeger (175-G-98, college: Oregon) got going followed by a Thacker triple for an 18-5 start. With five straight triples to the Tigers it took Jess Good with two triples in a row to snap the momentum, but veteran Tara Dodman drained another triple to leave both teams with ten triples in the opening stanza as it stood 29-22 with the Tigers up at quarter time. Teige Morrell (F) started with two in the second before Shannon Webber drained her first triple of the night. Webber next play collided with a Tigers player and injured her knee and after a lengthy delay looked like she would take no further part in the game. The Rockets fired up by the incident, hit back through Ortlepp and Good. Izzy Stratford then grabbed the and1 to take the Tigers back out to double digits. Sam 'De-Fran' Francesco flipped up the ball and scored the and1 on the next play, Morrell then hit double figures with her tenth point and then sent back a Rockets player with a huge block. Bails then hit back with her third triple of the night before the Halls Medallist dropped and1 for her ninth of the quarter as her influence started to over-flow further and further with her as she guided her Tigers to a tight five-point lead 46-41 at the half. Good started the third with a block in the first few minutes on Morrell with the Rockets showing that they would not yield the pressure pushed on the Tigers before half time. Thacker was hit with her fifth foul early in the half and she would see no more action in the game as both teams were down a player for the remainder of the night. A 0-6 run to the Rockets and they hit the front 46-47 with timeout burnt by Matthew Clarke of the Tigers. Denelle Fawcett broke the run with a bucket before Yaeger nailed a big dagger followed by Fawcett and Madi "Mouse" Round causing a 7-0 run. Fawcett dropped another triple before De-Fran dropped yet another and1 for both sides. Morrell came back into the lineup and immediately impacted with seven straight points before Yeager drained another dagger to have them out by nine points 66-57 with one pulsating quarter to go. Ortlepp got a very user-friendly roll on a triple while Bails was putting on the jets for her side but Morrell followed suite dropping back-to-back buckets. A savage blow for the Tigers occurred when Yaeger picked up an offensive foul and that was her fifth; her night done with 18 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Fawcett stepped up to the main handler role and knocked down a deuce, Round then drained a triple before Ortlepp grabbed the and1 and looked like the pivotal figure that would get her Rockets back in the match. De-Fran got another user-friendly role for a triple before McCalop drained a timely triple. Ortlepp splashed another triple of her own before Fawcett drew Good her fifth foul and another player left the floor for the night. Fawcett drained a couple more crucial charity stripe trips to get into double figures in a match turning veteran contribution. The Southern Tigers eventaully overwhelming the Rockets to claw their way to their second championship in their new era and eighth overall in club history 87-77. The MVP of the Grand Final was Teige Morrell with 27 points, 16 rebounds and 4 assists and understandably for her to complete the triple of MVP, Halls and Grand Final MVP; she was overwhelmed. 'It feels unbelievable we've been together for three years it means so much to us as a group, its amazing. When they announced I got MVP I really didn't think I had that many.' Stopping Jess Good's (16 points and 11 rebounds) influencing heavily was a part of the Tigers gameplan naturally and Morrell described how tough the task was, ' (Jemma) Thacker did a great job on her until she fouled out.' Morrell also highlighted the vital contributions of McCalop and the veteran experience of Fawcett, 'I said to her to use that experience when she came in for Morgan (after her foul trouble) and she delivered on that,' Morrell shared. Coach Matthew Clarke could not wipe the smile from his face with what the Tigers had built, 'I'm just excited, it's a real thrill to win such a close game with such adversity and in the end we found a way. Our experience in Denelle and Tara (Dodman) really helped when we needed it at times tonight, we didn't think much about our loss in the ABC last season we focused on this year and found a way and for that I am so proud of our group.' Coach of the Rockets Brenton Johnston was disappointed with the result and pointed out the start causing the team to play catchup. 'Our first quarter made it a lot of hard work for us to comeback into it and they kept going, they played awesome for four quarters, and we took a little while to get going. We called a timeout after that 21-5 run and told our players to relax and calm down and to chip away like it was a marathon rather than a sprint. 2018 we won it then 2019 I had the year off, so we've built it back and the team is back at a strong base to be back in finals; it's a long-term program to do that.' Taylor Ortlepp (180-G-97, college: Boston Coll.) (28 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists) threatened to take the game away from the Tigers and despite the loss was pleased with the strides her side made in the season late. 'We really made a great run at the end of the season with five people all gelling on the court which made us much more of a threat offensively. Tia was a hard worker and she's one of the hardest workers in our team, she hit some big time shots.' The Tigers win is their first since the 2017 Grand Final win over the Rockets and ends their season with a W-L record of 18-2 as inaugural champions of the NBL1 Central Womens Competition. Courtesy of: nbl1.com.au
Australiabasket.com All-Australian NBL1 Central Awards 2021 - Sep 15, 2021
Grand Final MVP: Teige Morrell (F) of Southern T. Player of the Year: Teige Morrell (F) of Southern T. Youth Player of the Year: Samantha Simons (188-G/F-00) of Forestville E. Defensive Player of the Year: Jessica Good (186-F-94) of N.Adelaide R. Coach of the Year: Matthew Clarke of Southern T.
Australiabasket.com All-Australian NBL1 Central 1st Team 2021
Willetton Tigers claim NBL1 West championship with victory over Joondalup Wolves - Sep 4, 2021
Willetton star Alexandra Sharp (183-G-97, college: Wake Forest) capped off golden season tonight by being named the NBL1 West grand final MVP as the Tigers beat Joondalup 65-54. Sharp won the league's MVP award last month, was picked in the Australian Opals team this week and had 13 points, 15 rebounds and four assists in the grand final win. But the Perth Lynx star said all she cared about was tasting championship glory. 'It's been pretty big but all I really want to do is celebrate winning this with the girls. I don't expect any recognition, I just wanted to win. This win is one of the sweetest ones I've had,' Sharp said. Joondalup started strongly but the Tigers' ability to stay calm after taking the lead during the second quarter was crucial. They led by 13 points late in the period but Joondalup kept challenging and tied the scores during the final quarter. Kayla Steindl (190-F-89, college: Gonzaga) was outstanding in her final game for the Wolves with 16 points and 15 rebounds, before hobbling from the court late in the match. Nes'eya Parker-Williams scored nine points and won eight rebounds. But Willetton had too many weapons. Desiree Kelley (175-G/F-95) (16 points, seven rebounds and three steals) and Samantha Lubcke (188-F-96, college: Utah Valley) (13 points and eight rebounds) were also prominent in the win. 'Des really lifted the team. She had a great captain's game and held us together through those momentum swings. I am so proud of her,' Sharp said. 'It showed our growth as a team across the season. We learnt from our mistakes. We knew there would be momentum shifts across the game but knew we could stop them and get back into our mindset. 'It was all about us doing whatever it took to win for us and as soon as the buzzer went off, it was just an unbelievable feeling. 'This means so much to the club because they've invested in juniors and the pathway. This is mostly Willo girls through and through.' Courtesy of: thewest.com.au
Australiabasket.com All-Australian NBL1 West Awards 2021 - Sep 15, 2021
Grand Final MVP: Alexandra Sharp (183-G-97) of Perth Player of the Year: Alexandra Sharp (183-G-97) of Perth Youth Player of the Year: Alexandra Sharp (183-G-97) of Perth Defensive Player of the Year: Emma Gandini (170-G-94) of Willetton T.
Australiabasket.com All-Australian NBL1 West 1st Team 2021
Mikhaela Cann of Logan T.
Mary Goulding (183-F-96) of East Perth E.
Kayla Steindl (190-F-89) of Joondalup W.
