Brazil
The finals continued on Tuesday with a game with plenty of implications for both teams. Araraquara was looking to pick up the road win and give themselves two chances to win the championship at home. They built up a lead in the second half, but Sampaio knew that they needed a win at home and fought back, sending the game to overtime. Araraquara edged past them in the extra period and doubled their lead for Sunday’s game. Sampaio faced elimination, but found a way to get the win and keep the series going.
Australia
Champions were crowned in most of the conferences of NBL1 on Saturday, including the South. Geelong was looking to stay undefeated with the chance to run the table at the national tournament. The Knox Raiders had other ideas though, building a lead by halftime on their way to a surprisingly large win.
The North conference finals were a best-of-three series and the top two teams all season long met to determine the champion. Nicole Fransson scored 31 points on Friday to give the Southern Districts Spartans the opening win. Leah Scott had 35 points on Saturday for the Logan Thunder to help them fend off elimination. Sunday’s decider was excellent after neither earlier game was close, going into overtime before the Thunder got the win as the second seed.
In the East conference, the youngsters of Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence were looking to knock out another team with more experience to win the championship. The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles took a decisive lead early and rolled to the win as the top seed.
It was a storybook ending in the Central conference as the Woodville Warriors were looking to complete a run from the fifth seed. The Sturt Sabres appeared to be the favorites after their big win to get to this poin, but fell behind quickly and lost their chance at the championship.
The championship game in the West conference will be next week after Saturday’s semifinals. The Cockburn Cougars remain undefeated after their win over the Perry Lakes Hawks. Their opponent will be the Warwick Senators, which have been chasing them all season long, after their win over the Mandurah Magic.
The playoffs continued in Big V on Saturday in the top division and the Bulleen Boomers won the elimination game over the McKinnon Cougars. The top two teams played for the direct spot in the championship game and it was the top seed Bellarine Storm getting the win over the Pakenham Warriors. Teams in the middle division were squaring off for the other spot in the championship game and it was the fourth place Western Port Steelers getting the upset win over the Whittlesea Pacers. Emmie Gardner had 20 rebounds, but the second place Wallan Panthers lost to third place Gippsland in the battle for the bottom division championship game spot.
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