Eastern Mavericks 56 defeated Northern Territory Geckos 32

This game started with a low-scoring first quarter for both teams, the Mavericks leading 8-4. They kept a good hold on the Geckos to lead the game by six points at half time, 23-17. The Mavericks continued to push their lead ahead during the second half with a top score of 14 by captain Billy Bald to bring the score to 35-22. A higher scoring final term by both teams and some great rebounds and intercepts by the Mavericks saw them increase their lead even further to cap off the game with a 34 point win.

Mavericks – B. Bald 14, J. Tarca 12, B. Wright 12.

Geckos – T. Liebelt 9, N. Emerton 6, J. Althouse 6.

Northern Tasmania Foresters 72 East Perth Eagles 57

Rhys Mackean got the Eagles off to a great start but the Foresters were only one point behind after eight minutes of play. Northern Tasmania through Rhys Petterwood pushed in front and held the Eagles to 23 points in the second quarter. A scoring frenzy by the Foresters early in the third quarter allowed them to notch up 17 points before the Eagles landed any. Tasmania looked less in control in the final term and several wild passes missed their mark. The Eagles matched them early on but the Foresters settled back in and took the game to 72-57.

Foresters – Z. Kilby 21, D. Finau 17, I. Devereaux 12

Eagles – R. MacKean 17, S. Ameduri 10, N. Moulton 9, A. Donlagic 9

Forestville Eagles 52 defeated Blackburn Vikings 43

Expected to be a tight match the Eagles proved in house tipster Rondo right and took out the win. The Vikings started strong but the Eagles were able to use their height to snatch the rebounds and Forestville lead 15-10 at quarter time. The Vikings closed the gap in the second quarter and powered through with some fine work by Jake Heath to put them up six points at half time. The final quarter was a nail biter and the Vikings were chasing hard in the last two minutes. A great three-pointer by Austin Clark from Forestville gave them the extra space to take out the win.

Eagles – A. Clark 18, J. O’Gorman 14, J. Noble 8

Vikings – J. Heath 12, J. Locke 9, M. D’Agostino 6

Logan Thunder 70 defeated Northside Wizards 65

The Thunder got off to an early start, leading the Wizards 18-10 by quarter time. Another strong quarter saw the Thunder finish off the first half of the game with a 20 point lead. A dead even third quarter brought the three-quarter time score to 59-39 with Dennis Maluto top scoring for his team with 16. The Wizards came back with a brilliant final term scoring 26 points to the Thunder’s 11 with some great play by Jaleel Georgetown with 11 points in the second half and Darnell Robateau with a game-high score of 16. They were unable to catch their lead and the Thunder finished with a 5 point win.

Thunder – D. Maluto 15, R. Wetere 14, S. Morris 11.

Wizards – D. Robateau 16, J. Georgetown 13, A. Villamore 12.

Doncaster Panthers 72 defeated Willetton Tigers 54

The teams were evenly matched in the first quarter with the score seven-all after three minutes of play. Doncaster pushed ahead just before quarter time and were leading by six points. Doncaster held onto their lead and were up 23-27 at half time with some impressive offense by Blake Hardwick. The teams exchanged baskets throughout the third term but Doncaster stormed further ahead to lead by 11. Good defence by Panthers Jack Tibb and Daniel Dowisha in the last quarter kept the Tigers to 15 points and they secured the victory.

Panthers – B. Hardwick 20, D. Crocker 20, D. Fan 12

Tigers – E. Neved 19, A. Cummings 9, M. Steacy 6

South West Pirates 65 defeated Illawarra Hawks 60

These two teams went basket-for-basket for most of the first half, with the Hawks barely keeping a lead over the Pirates in the first quarter, with a score of 19-17. Both teams remained competitive for an even second quarter and the Hawks remained two points ahead at half time. A three-pointer by Darryl McDowell-White pulled the Pirates into the lead in the third term and they remained here for the rest of the match. Two controversial tech-fouls against the Hawks let McDowell White score four free throws out of four (bringing his total to an impressive 25), and the Pirates won the game by a tight 5 points.

Pirates – D. McDowell-White 25, M. Leahy 17, L. Richardson 8.

Hawks – S. Cranney 17, B. Marks 14.

Sutherland Sharks 53 defeated Rockingham Flames 40

This game got off to a close start with a dead-even first term bringing the quarter-time score to 10 all. The Sharks pulled ahead in the second quarter and two three-pointers in the last minute brought them to a nine point lead by half time. They remained in front for the rest of the match. A strong performance by Julian De Costa with 17 points helped bring the game home for the Sharks, ending the game with a 13 point win.

Sharks – J. De Costa 17, L. Stewart 12, L. Banks 8.

Flames – A. Zeverona 11, B. Amos 8, L. Ebert 8, M. Ngan-Woo 8.

North West Tasmania Thunder 51 defeated Canberra Nationals 37

Thunder proved too good for the Nationals yesterday and will play off for 17th spot against the Pirates today at the AIS arena. The nationals were behind at quarter time but used some great team work in the second quarter to equalise the score, however they weren’t strong enough to hold on and they trailed by four points at half time. North West were defensively strong in the third and they forced Canberra’s shot clock to run down and picked up most rebounds. Canberra weren’t playing with the enthusiasm necessary to take the win, the Thunder capitalised on this in the final quarter and took the game 51-37.

Thunder – K. Clark 20, D. Bransden 10, G. Dennison 9

Nationals – O. Bayly 9, O. Tomks 6, C. Jordan 5 Hills

Hornets 53 defeated Geelong Cats 35

The first major semi-final was the battle of the undefeated and it was surprising the players could hear themselves think over the supporters’ racket. The Hornets got out to an early lead of 9-5 in the first quarter, but the Cats soon came back to take the first half 20-19. With a few minutes until three-quarter time the score was all tied up at 27 all, but the Hornets pushed to a lead of 37-27 by the buzzer. The rest of the game belonged to the Hornets, including a game-high score of 17 to Mitchell Evans as they continued to push out their lead in the final term and take the game by 18 points.

Hornets – M. Evans 17, A. Bannatyne 13, J. Green 9.

Cats – J. Crawley 15, J. O’Leary 6, J. Syddall 5.

Diamond Valley Eagles 57 defeated Knox Raiders 48

Abiola Akintola from the Eagles always seemed in the right place at the right time to pick up rebounds and helped his team to lead by six at quarter time. In a physical second quarter Knox held even with the Eagles but couldn’t drive to the net enough to catch them. The third started with some fire and the Raiders snatched the lead and were up by two points after 24 minutes. The Eagles fought back strong and took the lead, a massive three-pointer by Raider’s Jordan Bass picked up some ground but the Eagles found that little something extra to snatch the game.

Eagles – J. Formosa 24, A. Akintola 13, D. Marshall 10

Raiders – S. Pritchard 25, L. Jones 5, J. Depace 5, J. Bass 5

Melbourne Tigers 46 defeated Sturt Sabres 44

The Tigers fought their way to an early lead but a three-pointer on the quarter time buzzer allowed the Sabres to keep in the game. Sturt began the second quarter strong and matched the Tigers but quality team offence kept the Tigers ahead at half time. There was no holding back in the third and the Sabres scored 11 points to the Tigers 10. Defensively both teams worked hard and Sturt’s Robert Colton scored seven points for the term. Sturt caught the Tigers by the tail in the final quarter and the game was bouncing back and forth. Two three-pointers by Matt Simmons gave the Sabres hope but two free throws to Anthony Karabatsos gave the Tigers the win.

Tigers – S. Williams 9, J. Cornelissen 8, A. Karabatsos 8, T. Wilson 8

Sabres – M. Simmons 12, R. Colton 11, S. Pontifex 7

Sandringham Sabres 63 defeated Gosford City Rebels 53

Another close first half between two strong teams, with the Rebels up by one point at quarter time. The Sabres scored a quick six points in the first minute of the second term and finished up at half time ahead of the Rebels 31-27. Powerful play by both teams brought the three-quarter time score to 46-41 in favour of the Sabres, who continued to advance their lead into the final term. An exciting 5 points scored with less than 10 seconds on the clock brought the Sabres to a victory of 10 points, with a massive top score of 27 by captain Harley Balic. Great performance by Rebels captain Oliver Robilliard with 22 points.

Sabres – H. Balic 27, F. Kenny 12, T. Taranto 12.

Rebels – O. Robilliard 22, J. Hodgson 15, H. Murray 6.