Each week we take a look at the latest round of NBL1 South games for Tasmaina’s four teams (2 men and 2 women’s). While also highlighting the play of Tasmania JackJumpers players.
Round 12 was a slightly different round, with 8 games across the weekend at home. The Diamond Vally Eagles and Knox Raiders both visiting Tasmania, with each local team hosting two games.
Women
Hobart Chargers v Diamond Valley
There was plenty of belief in the Chargers team after breaking out for their first away win in Round 11 against Frankston. This week they hosted Diamond Valley, whose solitary win for the season was a 7-point victory over the Chargers back in May.
But there was no repeat of the early season result, with the Chargers running away with a 93-65.win After falling behind 23-17 in the first quarter, the Chargers came back strong in the second to take a 41-37 lead.
The Chargers then powered home in the second half, outscoring the Eagles 52-29 to run out 28-point winners. Angela Tompkins was outstanding for the Chargers with 35 points and 17 rebounds, with Paige Bradly falling agonizingly close to a triple double with 15 points 9 assists 8 rebounds.
Hobart Chargers v Knox
After Friday night’s win the Chargers backed up with their second home game of the weekend against Knox. However, the winning streak only lasted one day as Knox defeated the Chargers 50-33.
Points were hard to come by as both teams shot below 30% from the field, Knox held a small lead for most of the match, but were unable to shake the Chargers. In the final quarter Hobart reduced the lead to single figures and had their opportunities to make a late run. However, they could not hit their shots when it mattered and Knox outscored them 13-3 in the final five minutes for the comfortable win.
Without a single player making it to double figures, Angela Topkins was best with 7 points, 11 rebounds and 2 steals.
It ends a frustrating weekend for coach Dwayne Davie, who across two games saw a 60-point swing across in total points scored (93 to 33) in what was truly Jeckell and Hyde performance by his team at the offensive end.
Launceston vs Knox
After a disappointing 30-point loss to Ringwood on the road in their last game, the Torns were keen to bounce back and prove they are a genuine title contender in 2022. Back on their home floor, they returned to their best with a thumping 92-50 win over Knox.
Keely Froling led the way with 33 points and 16 rebounds, while recent acquisition Mariana Tolo had one of her best games in the red and white with 23 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks.
It was a close opening term with only 2 points separating the teams at the first break. However, it was all Launceston after that, with the Torns winning each remaining quarter by double figures.
The height of Launceston was a huge factor in the win. They dominated Knox on the boards 50-27 and outscored them in the paint 46-28.
Launceston v Diamond Valley
On paper this was a David vs Goliath Battle as the for the Diamond Vally Eagles. Coming off a big loss to Hobart the previous night, they were coming up against the Tornadoes who disposed of the Knox to the tune of 42 points.
The match ended with a comfortable 87-73 victory to the home side, however it was the way they played that would be causing some concern for coach Sarah Veal. After a strong 30-19 opening quarter, the Eagles held their own in the remainder of the game 54-57.
The Tornadoes turned the ball over 26 times, and allowed the visitors 18 additional field goal attempts. The eagles struggled to covert on the offensive end, but other teams may not be quite so wasteful.
Keely Froling was once again the focal point at both ends of the floor for the Tornadoes. She came close to a triple double with 26 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists, but also had 10 turnovers. A bright spot for the game was the shooting of local product Maraih Payne, she finished with 23 points on 7/10 shooting from outside.
Men’s
Hobart v Diamond Valley
The Hobart Chargers men came into the game looking for 11 wins in a row and cement their position at the top of NBL1 South. While for the Eagles, they were missing chief scorer DJ Vasiljevic, who is taking part in NBA summer league.
The Chargers led from start to finish for a comfortable 93-66 victory. Harry Froling was outstanding inside and out for the Chargers, with 29 points and 15 rebounds. While four other Chargers were able to reach double figures in scoring. With a second game on Saturday night, coach Anthony Stewart was able to go deep into his rotation with all 12 players getting court time. He also was able to keep his starters fresh for game two with none of them playing over 26 minutes.
This allowed bench players like Jacob Richards to step up and push for further minutes later in the season. Richards had 16 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists on 6/6 shooting.
Hobart vs Knox
Tasmanian basketball star and former Charger Adam Gibson was warmly welcomed back to Hobart on Saturday night as his Knox Raiders took on the Chargers. But his best efforts were not enough for the Chargers win streak to extend to 12, with a 103-83 win.
It was Harry Froling yet again who for shined for the home team, with another MVP performance. He finished with 30 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists. Jamar Sandifer also played a crucial role with 18 points and 7 rebounds.
The Chargers set the win up through a strong defensive game in the first half. They restricted Know to just 28 points and opened up a 23-point lead at halftime. Know found the bottom of the basket in the second half, but it was not enough to impact the scoreboard and Hobart ran our comfortable 20-point winners.
North West Tasmania v Knox
The Thunder were returning to Tasmania after a splitting their round 11 road trip 1-1, with their loss coming in overtime to the Eltham Wildcats.
The Thunder are stuck in a log jam of teams in the middle of the NBL1 South table and are needing to string together some wins to make finals. The visiting Knox raiders are in the same scenario, needing as many wins late in the season to qualify for finals.
Not surprising, the crowd witnessed a scrappy affair for three quarters, here no team was able to take control of the games. But it was an impressive 19-5 final quarter from Knox that saw them win an impressive away win.
North West Tasmania shot just 31% for the game, but were led by JackJumper Fabian Krslovic’s 15 points and 18 rebounds. With fellow JackJumpers Sean MacDonald adding 9 points and Matt Kenyon contributing 5 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.
North West Tasmania v Diamond Valley
After a tough loss at their home away from home in Launceston, the Thunder travelled to Devonport to host the Diamond Valley eagles for a much-needed victory. It may have been those Launceston rims but the Thunder were a completely different team to pull out at 90-61 victory over the Eagles.
The game was tight in the opening half, but it was the defensive effort in the second half, giving up only 22 points, that orchestrated the victory.
It was an all-around team performance by the Thunder, who had 11 players get on the scoresheet. But Sean MacDonald top scored with 23 points, Krslovic with 18, and although his shooting was still not quite there, Kenyon had 2 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists.
