North Recap | Round 1 Friday

Tiana Mangakahia made a winning return to the NBL1 North in a thrilling Southern Districts Spartans win before the men backed it up against Logan Thunder thanks to a combined 70 points and 11 threes from Tamuri Wigness and Kyle Adnam.

WOMEN

Logan Thunder (86) lost to Southern Districts Spartans (89)

It was a thriller in the first Friday night of the NBL1 North season with the Southern Districts Spartans beating Logan Thunder 89-86 with clutch free throws from Nicole Fransson sealing the deal for the visitors.

It was the first game of the season for both teams when they hit the floor at Bendigo Bank Cornubia Park Sports Centre on Friday night with the Spartans coming off being knocked out in the first round of the finals last year and the Thunder falling short of making it altogether.

It was also a basketball return for Tiana Mangakahia just to add to the occasion on Friday night in the lone NBL1 North game of the evening and it was Mangakahia's Spartans team that made a flying start.

Southern Districts were aggressive on their attack inside and got to the foul line 11 times in the first quarter and made 10/14 inside the arc to be leading 31-20 by the end of the first quarter.

Things dried up a little for the Spartans in the second term with them relying on the three ball a bit more and shooting just 2/11 from deep but still by half-time they had managed to extend their advantage to 49-37.

Logan then worked right back into the contest in the third quarter by not sending the Spartans to the foul line once and hitting fire from downtown themselves going 5/7 to end up outscoring their opponents 26 points to 19.

Southern Districts were still leading 68-63 by three quarter-time but Logan kept the momentum going and ended up hitting the front early in the fourth when Prasayus Notoa knocked down a three-pointer.

The Spartans regained the lead soon after with back-to-back three balls of their own from Emily Preston and Jess McDowell-White before Mikhaela Cann scored for Logan to tie scores up with five minutes on the clock.

Notoa and McDowell-White then traded threes for their respective teams with it still just a one-point lead for the Spartans with a minute to play.

With time running out Nicole Fransson got to the line for Southern Districts and made both, and that would be the last score of the game with the Spartans winning by three when Cann missed an attempt at tying things up at the other end.

There was plenty to like in the game from both teams but nothing more than the inspirational return of Tiana Mangakahia to the basketball court. She played well too for 13 points, four rebounds and four steals on 4/6 shooting in 16 minutes.

Not only did Nicole Fransson hit those winning free throws, but she also delivered 23 points, 13 rebounds and two steals for Southern Districts with Jess McDowell-White adding 17 points and seven assists, and Emily Preston eight points and four rebounds.

It was a first up narrow loss for Logan under new coach Aja Parham-Anmar with Leah Scott putting up 26 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Prasayus Notoa added 19 points and 13 rebounds with 5/10 three-point shooting while Mikhaela Cann had 17 points and six assists, and Chevannah Paalvast 10 points and five assists.

LOGAN THUNDER 86 (Scott 26, Notoa 19, Cann 17)

SOUTHERN DISTRICTS SPARTANS 89 (Fransson 23, J McDowell-White 17, Mangakahia 13)

MEN

Logan Thunder (109) lost to Southern Districts Spartans (110)

If the first Friday night men's game is anything to go by, it's going to be quite the 2025 season with the Southern Districts Spartans back court of Kyle Adnam and Tamuri Wigness combining for 11 threes and 70 points in 110-109 win over Logan Thunder.

Just a glance through the players that both teams have on their rosters for this NBL1 North season and there was every chance it was going to be an exciting first Friday night game of the season, and it sure went on to deliver in spades.

Just the back court battle alone was likely going to be worth the price of admission with Wigness and Adnam on deck for the Spartans up against a Logan contingent led by Matt Kenyon and Zac Triplett.

Both teams were aggressive in the opening quarter and of the 56 points the two teams combined for, 19 of them came on 25 free-throw attempts with Logan going 12/16 at the line despite shooting 1/8 from three to be leading 29-27 after one.

There was only a combined five free-throw attempts in the second quarter but it remained a high quality affair and Logan put up another 27 points to 22 from Southern Districts to go into half-time leading 56-49.

Things went up another gear in the third quarter with the two teams combining for 59 points while knocking down four three-pointers apiece with the Spartans outscoring the Thunder 32 points to 27 to cut Logan's lead by three quarter-time to just the two points.

It was all set up for a big final quarter with Max Kerle and Adnam hitting a couple of early threes to give the Spartans a four-point lead but Logan responded and were up by four themselves when Triplett completed a three-point play with three minutes to play.

The big plays continued and Kenyon drained a three to put Logan back up three before Wigness responded for the Spartans. Triplett then answered with his own three ball and then Wigness put up another from behind the three-point arc.

Scores were tied at 107-107 with 40 seconds to play before Kenyon made a pair of free throws and then the biggest shot of the night was a falling away contested three-pointer from Adnam.

There was plenty of contact too, but his shot fell for the Spartans to be up one where they stayed when Logan couldn’t quite get the look they were hoping on a final possession out of the timeout.

That was one of five threes that Southern Districts hit in the fourth quarter on the way to going 16/32 as a team with Adnam finishing with 6/12 and Wigness 5/12.

Adnam had 36 points, three steals and two assists for the game with Wigness adding 34 points and four assists while Kerle contributed 11 points and eight rebounds, and Andre Ugrinic eight points, 11 boards, three steals and two assists.

It might have been a loss but there was plenty to like for Logan after their finals appearance in 2024 with South East Melbourne Phoenix NBL menace Matt Kenyon delivering 26 points, eight assists, three steals and two rebounds.

Zac Triplett also put up 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists with Callum Dalton contributing 23 points, 10 boards and five assists, and Tom Howard 15 points, four assists and three rebounds.

LOGAN THUNDER 109 (Kenyon 26, Triplett 25, Dalton 23)

SOUTHERN DISTRICTS SPARTANS 110 (Adnam 36, Wigness 34, Kerle 11)