NBL1 Recap 14 April to 15 April

The NBL1 featured several solid performances from Hawks over the weekend, including a standout from William Hickey who pushed the Illawarra Hawks over the line in a nail biter against the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders.

The Illawarra Hawks added to their win tally, landing their 5^th victory of the season on Saturday night, but it wasn’t without its dramas, with the Spiders leading for a good portion of the game, the Hawks had to grind for a hard-fought win at The Snakepit.

Tim Coenraad was a stable mainstay for the Hawks, scoring 12 points and 8 rebounds while William Hickey provided the scoring punch the Hawks needed posting 31 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists.

For the Hawks Women’s team, both Illawarra and Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai had lost their first five matches of the NBL1 East season and it was the Hawks who got on the board with an 85-60 victory.

With both teams sitting at 0-5 coming into the clash, one of them was going to break the duck and it wasn’t really until the second half when the Hawks pulled away. Illawarra outscored Hornsby 48 points to 32 after half-time to claim the 25-point win.

Chelsea Hogg put up 18 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals for the Hawks with Georgia Chrystal contributing 14 points and seven boards, Mikayla Kirby 12 points and six rebounds, and Ella Dent 11 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists and three steals.

The Illawarra Hawks NBL1 Men’s will look to continue their impressive season run when they take on the Sutherland Sharks on Tuesday 25 April, with a tip off time of 5:30pm. The Hawks Women’s team will precede the match, tipping off at 3:30pm.

In NBL1 Central, new signing Lachlan Olbrich contributed to a convincing win against the North Adelaide Rockets, debuting for the West Adelaide Bearcats on Saturday night. The 2022 NBL1 All-Star Five Central star scored 12 points, 11 rebounds and three assists alongside NBL stars Anthony Drmic and Mitch McCarron in the 112-54 point win.

The Bearcats hit the road against Sturt Sabres on Thursday 20 April, 8:44pm AEDT.

Meanwhile, there was plenty of NBL1 North action from Friday and over the weekend.  Lachlan Dent facilitated for the Capital’s in a loss to Cairns Marlins with 5 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, the final score 92-86.

Alex Mudronja was solid in a performance with the Southern Districts Spartans on Friday night posting 10 points, 3 rebounds with 7 assists to facilitate in what was a heartbreaking loss to the Northside Wizards, 87-85. It was a double header for the Spartans, hitting the road on Saturday to face Sunshine Coast Phoenix, securing their first win of the season 85-67.

Dent and the Brisbane Capitals will take on the Mackay Meteors Friday 21 April for an 8pm tip off AEDT, while Mudronja and the Spartans will also face the Meteors on Saturday 22 April for a much needed win with tip off at 7pm AEST.

Deng Deng was a standout for the Ipswich Force, for what was a nail biter on Saturday night posting up a double double with 20 points, 13 rebounds as well as 3 assists, a block, and a steal in a narrow 91-89 victory against the Southwest Metro Pirates.

Deng will look to capitalise on his great performance, when the Force take on the Townsville Heat Friday 21 April tipping off at 8pm AEST.