Logan Thunder claim NBL1 North championship

Logan Thunder looked dead and buried on Friday night and at times during Game 3, but forced overtime and threes from Leah Scott (183-PF-1993, college: Marshall) and Amandine Toi (178-G-1998, college: Virginia) were huge in them beating Southern Districts Spartans 78-76 for NBL1 North championship. Considering both teams ended the regular season with identical 13-1 records and with the stars they possessed, it was always going to be a fascinating Grand Final Series all played at Rowland Cowan Stadium this weekend. The first two games then couldn’t be of greater contrast with the Spartans dominant in Game 1 on Friday night winning 87-69 but the Thunder were able to turn the tide on Saturday night winning 89-60 to force the decider on Sunday afternoon. The Spartans then had a double-figure lead for a lot of the first three quarters and even though Mikhaela Cann (173-PG-1994) fouled out for Logan, they refused to be denied. The door was left open somewhat when Emily Preston missed four free throws and Jessica McDowell-White (168-G-2000, college: USF) had a horror backcourt turnover that she threw out of bounds. Amandine Toi hit a massive three to force overtime and then at the end of that extra period, it was Leah Scott that knocked down the biggest shot of the weekend and Logan won by two points to secure the championship with the remarkable comeback. Game 3 of the Grand Final Series got underway on Sunday afternoon with the Spartans opening up an early 10-point lead and they were still leading 21-16 by quarter-time. That lead for Southern Districts got out to 11 points once more in the second quarter and by half-time the Spartans were leading 40-31 thanks to shooting 14/32 from the field to 12/32 from the Thunder. Southern Districts' lead was out to 12 points halfway through the third quarter but then Logan responded in stunning fashion with the 14 points in-a-row in the space of four minutes. That included two three-pointers from Leah Scott and another from Amandine Toi, and by three quarter-time it was the Thunder clinging to that 53-52 advantage. The Spartans again took back control to start the fourth quarter to open up a four-point lead when Emily Preston knocked down a three-point bomb. The Spartans were again up six shortly after and then still leading by five with a minute to play but Logan just refused to be denied. They were helped with four missed free throws by Preston and then a pass out of bounds from the back court by Jessica McDowell-White. They took advantage with Toi hitting the massive three-point bomb to send the game to overtime to decide the championship. Not only had Mikhaela Cann already fouled out for Logan, Southern Districts star Nicole Fransson also never returned to the court after going out with seven minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Odette Isaac (179-G/F-1990) hit a huge three to put the Spartans up two but then with the shot clock turned off, Leah Scott landed the huge triple for Logan to win them the championship. It's a first NBL1 North championship for Logan since 2021 with Leah Scott adding to her remarkable legacy in Queensland with the Grand Final MVP award on the back of a Game 3 performance with 24 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and two steals with 4/7 three-point shooting. Before fouling out, Mikhaela Cann didn’t sub out of the game and finished with 15 points, seven assists, three steals and two rebounds. Sharni Reisinger also had 10 points and five rebounds, Bride Kennedy-Hopoate (189-F-1997, college: N.Mexico) eight points and five boards, Amandine Toi eight points, and Vahayliah Seumanutafa seven points and seven rebounds. It will be a tough loss to take for Southern Districts given how dominant they were in Game 1 and then controlled most of Game 3 even being still five points up with a minute to play. Jessica McDowell-White finished with another 24 points, five assists, three rebounds and three steals, Odette Isaac 12 points and three boards, Taylah Simmons 11 points and eight rebounds, and Emily Preston 12 points, nine boards, three assists and two steals with 3/5 three-point shooting. Nicole Fransson only played 23 minutes for nine points, eight rebounds and three assists with Kalani Purcell adding five points, 12 boards and two assists.
Courtesy of: nbl1.com.au