12 Aug NWBL Round 7 Wrap
The stage is set for the 2025 NWBL Finals with the Southern Districts Spartans coming home with a wet sail to claim fourth spot.
The Spartans were able to deliver a clean sweep over stablemates, the Titans while the Red Dust Heelers were unable to keep hold of fourth place, going down to Wollongong in all three games.
Meanwhile Darwin rounded out their impressive season, sweeping Manly 3-0.
In Wollongong, the Red Dust Heelers needed one win to secure their first finals appearance in the NWBL since 2018 but things did not start well with a 39-71 defeat to the Roller Hawks, the home side fuelled by 26 points from both Jontee Brown and Jordi Ruiz.
The duo needed to combine in the absence of Tristan Knowles who sat out the weekend as a precaution with a shoulder injury while the team was also missing Luke Pople, who only played in Saturday’s game.
In front of an enthusiastic Illawarra Snakepit crowd, Saturday was a much closer contest with scores locked at 29-all at halftime. A 23-15 third quarter gave the Roller Hawks some breathing room before a scrappy 12-11 final quarter sealed the result, 64-55.
Sunday presented the Heelers with one final chance to extend their season but a 19-5 opening quarter by Wollongong ended those hopes with the visitors unable to reel in their hosts, the Roller Hawks won 59-44.
The three wins by Wollongong opened the door for the Southern Districts Spartans who needed to win all three of their games against the Titans and hope that Red Dust lost their three.
The Titans were no pushovers but the Spartans managed to secure the three victories required of them, 61-46, 68-46 and 68-34.
Eithen Leard led all scorers with 17.6 points per game but was closely followed by the Titans Peter Berry (17ppg) and Augustin Alejos Alonso and Kauri Murray who both averaged 16 points per game.
The victories now mean the Spartans will meet the Perth Wheelcats in a sudden death Semi Final on Friday, August 29th, with the winner advancing to Saturday’s Preliminary Final and the loser goes to the third-place play-off.
In Darwin, the Salties continued to put up some big numbers as they rolled past the Manly Wheel Eagles with three wins.
Jaylen Brown capped off an incredible regular season with a 55 point effort on Sunday including 4/9 from three point range and 20/25 from inside the arc.
Brown’s numbers were incredible across the weekend, posting 28 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists on Friday, 29 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists on Saturday and 11 rebounds and 6 assists to go with his 55 on Sunday.
He was ably supported by Tom O’Neill-Thorne who had 36 points on Friday before deciding passing it to his big man was much easier, dishing out 16 assists on Saturday and 17 on Sunday.
Darwin will meet Wollongong in the other Semi Final on August 29th for the right to advance directly to the Grand Final on Sunday August 31st.