NBL1 Recap 4, 5 & 6 August

Mason Peatling helped lead the Knox Raiders to the NBL1 South Grand Final with a hard earned 68-63 road preliminary final victory against the Mount Gambier Pioneers on Friday night.

The Knox Raiders made life difficult for themselves by having to win on the road to reach the Grand Final, but they have made it on the back of a tremendous finish against the Pioneers.

Peatling contributed four points and seven rebounds in his sides win.

The Knox Raiders will play the Sandringham Sabres in the Grand Final on Saturday 12 August, tipping off at 8pm.

The West Adelaide Bearcats dispelled any notion this one was going to be a struggle early as they blitzed their way to their first Grand Final since 2017 as they dismantled the Sturt Sabres 96-73 at the Port.

Illawarra Hawk Lachlan Olbrich soared notching up 10 first quarter points. Olbrich was too big and strong with all those deliveries with 14 points and six rebounds.

The West Adelaide Bearcats will now meet the Forestville Eagles for the second time in three weeks in the Grand Final on Saturday 12 August, tipping off 8pm ACST.

The Gold Coast Rollers were one win away from back-to-back NBL1 North championships with a commanding performance to open the Grand Final Series beating the Ipswich Force 100-86.

On the back of winning last year's NBL1 North championship, Gold Coast put together another standout regular season with NBL veteran Todd Blanchfield joining the line-up.

The 373-game NBL veteran is heading back to the Illawarra Hawks and he's going to arrive in hot form after another 27 points and 14 rebounds in the Game 1 win for Gold Coast.

The Grand Final series continued over the weekend, however Ipswich Force were too good for the Gold Coast Rollers in the end, securing the Championship 2-1.

Despite the loss, Todd Blanchfield had a night out for Gold Coast in Game 2 finishing with 40 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals on shooting 14/27 from the field, 6/13 from three-point range and 6/6 at the free-throw line.

Blanchfield backed up his series performance in Game 3, adding 20 points, 15 rebounds and two assists.

Blanchfield will return to the Illawarra to commence pre-season training.