Americas
The semifinals started in Mexico with games on Wednesday and Thursday. Chihuahua and Monterrey both swept their games at home. Monterrey pulled away in the fourth quarter to win Game 3 on Sunday, but Xalapa just avoided the sweep on Monday. Top seed Chihuahua headed to Guadalajara and got the win in the first game there, but it looked like Jalisco would force another game before a dramatic game winner.
In Brazil, the playoffs took a pause for the All Star Game on Saturday that the Stars won easily over the Diamonds. In Uruguay’s upper group, Malvin remains undefeated after their win over Aguada. Abril Ramirez had 31 points for Hebraica Macabi, but that could not prevent 25 Agosto from picking up their first win of the stage. Saturday’s other game was Defensor Sporting’s win at Yale. The lower group returned to play with the two undefeated teams meeting on Saturday and Remeros Mercedes won at Lagomar. The winless teams played on Sunday and it was Urunday Universitario getting the win over Juventud de las Piedras with a 13 point, 13 rebound, 10 assist triple-double from Rocio Mott.
Australia
The last two divisions in NBL1 started their playoffs this week, including the West division, which split the top four into a battle for automatic spots in the semifinals on Saturday. The Willetton Tigers defeated the Joondalup Wolves and the Cockburn Cougars defeated the Rockingham Flames to grab those spots, leaving their opponents facing the winners of the other bracket. Those elimination games were also played on Saturday and Stacey Barr’s 30 points led the Warwick Senators past the Eastern Suns and the Mandurah Magic defeated the Perry Lakes Hawks. The East division just has a single bracket and the quarterfinals were played on Saturday. Lauren Nicholson had 32 points for the Sutherland Sharks, but it could not prevent the youngsters of the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence from completing a comeback. Their next opponent is the top seed Manly Warringah Eagles, which defeated the Albury Wodonga Bandits. The Norths Bears defeated the Maitland Mustangs and will get to host their semifinal because Shyla Heal poured in 43 points to get the Sydney Comets the only seeding upset against the Newcastle Falcons.
Two games were played in the South division with spots in the semifinals on the line. The Mt. Gambier Pioneers held off the Ringwood Hawks on Friday and then the Waverley Falcons breezed past the Eltham Wildcats on Sunday. The semifinals were played in the North division on Saturday for the spots in the finals series. The top seed Northside Wizards won their game against the South West Metro Pirates, but the Rockhampton Cyclones won on the road at the Logan Thunder, which got 20 rebounds from Mikaela Ruef. In the Central division, the elimination game was played on Saturday and Morgan Yaeger had 30 points to lead the Southern Tigers past the South Adelaide Panthers. The other game was on Sunday and the Norwood Flames led at the half, but the Sturt Sabres rallied in the second half to maintain their perfect record and grab the first spot in the final game.
Big V is also hitting the stretch run with one more week of the regular season in the top tier. The playoffs started in the middle division with the Western Port Steelers eliminating the Craigieburn Eagles. Their next opponent will be the Mildura Heat, which lost decisively against the Bellarine Storm, who progress to the game against the top seed Warnambool Mermaids for a spot in the final. The playoffs will start next week in the third tier with top seed Gippsland facing Surf Coast and the Wallan Panthers playing the Blackburn Vikings.
New Zealand
It was a busy week in the competition, starting on Wednesday with a Queens win over the Whai. The Hoiho had a late comeback on Thursday to win against the Pouakai. Playing the reserve game before the main game had an unusual effect on Friday when Krystal Leger-Walker, IImar’I Thomas, and Awatea Leach ended up playing over 40 minutes in total with the Kahu winning both games against the Whai. The Queens defeated the Pouakai on Saturday. The Kahu stuck with their lineup on Sunday with the same players pulling heavy double-duty and Thomas scored 30 points off the bench to play over 40 minutes again taking into account the reserve game and they won against the Hoiho, which got 21 rebounds from Ashten Prechtel.
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