Back at the Geelong Arena, our HoopCity NBL1 teams battled it out in two down-to-the-wire games as we faced the Launceston Tornadoes and the North West Tasmanian Thunder on Saturday night.
HOOPCITY NBL1 WOMEN
Our NBL1 Women have taken their first home loss of the season as they went down by just 4 points in a close battle with the Launceston Tornadoes on Saturday night. A tough night from the field saw our women take a half-time lead of just 1, 36-35 before a slip in the 3rd quarter saw them trailing entering the fourth. A slow offensive night for Sara Blicavs saw her connect on just 28% of her shots, an unusual outlier in what has been an incredible season so far. Kelsey Griffinβs 33 and 16-point game was just too much for the Supercats to handle as they could not claw back the lead in the dying minutes of the game, going down 73-77.
Sarah Elsworthy (Wildcats) was back in full flight after being cleared to play without her mask, dropping a team-high 21 points to go with 9 rebounds. However, the loss of Aimie Rocci due to an injury definitely hurt the team, as they fall to 8-3 and 5th place on the NBL1 Ladder. The team will look to regroup for their home game in just 5 daysβ time when they take on the Bendigo Braves on Friday night. Tickets are available here.
TOP PERFORMERS
Sarah Elsworthy 21 points 9 rebounds 2 assists 1 steal
Sara Blicavs 16 points 8 rebounds 4 assists
Alex Duck 10 points 4 rebounds 4 assists 2 steals
HOOPCITY NBL1 MEN
A strong showing from our NBL1 Men on Saturday night without superstar Jack White has seen them take an important win at home against North West Tasmanian Thunder on Saturday night. The Men were clicking on all cylinders on the offensive end early in this one as they built a 13-point lead heading to half-time. A steading third quarter saw the 13-point lead be maintained as Kris Blicavs (Wildcats) was a steading presence off the bench contributing an important 14-point haul.
The fourth quarter saw the Men slip as they struggled to find the bottom of the net late, allowing the Thunder to make a close run. However Geelong were able to hang on and take out the win by 4 points, 86-82. Gabe Hadley (Lara Giants) was on fire all night dropping a game-high 26 points to go along with 9 rebounds and 4 assists.
The Men will now look to take care of business against the Bendigo Braves on Friday night at the Geelong Arena, before travelling to Sandringham to take on the Sabres in a crucial double header weekend. Tickets for Fridayβs clash are available here.
TOP PERFORMERS
Gabe Hadley 26 points 9 rebounds 4 assists 2 steals
DeMarcus Gatlin 15 points 7 rebounds 4 assists 3 steals 1 block
Isaac Turner 13 points 5 rebounds 3 assists
