Americas
The finals started in Brazil this week with Araraquara hosting the first two games as the top seed. Sampaio’s late charge was not enough on Tuesday but they took the lead early on Thursday to even up the series. The championship was decided in Mexico and Chihuahua did not wait to return home, winning their third straight game in Monterrey to win the title.
A full weekend in Uruguay started with Yale handing Malvin their first loss of this stage on Saturday. On Sunday, Aguada defeated Hebraica Macabi and Defensor Sporting rallied past 25 de Agosto. Both games in the lower group were also on Sunday with Remeros Mercedes staying undefeated with a win over Urunday Universitario and Juventud de las Piedras remaining winless after a big loss to Lagomar.
The beginner’s luck ran out in Puerto Rico on Monday with Hatillo’s loss to Santurce. Morovis got their captain back in the lineup, but still struggled in a loss to Carolina. Manati is the remaining undefeated team and they won against Isabela on Tuesday while Lares continued to look for their first win after Alexis Jennings had 30 points to lead Moca to a win over them. Morovis was at least thinking about a win on Wednesday before Carolina controlled the last quarter completely to win again. Thursday’s game saw Moca hold off Isabela. Santurce handed Manati their first loss on Friday, but Morovis could not pick up their first win against Hatillo. Lares lost again on Saturday to Isabela and lost to Moca on Sunday because Alexis Jennings had 32 points. Manati bounced back with a win over Isabela and Carolina defeated Hatillo.
Australia
The national finals were contested in NBL1 with the five divisional winners joining the reigning champion Warwick Senators in the field. With only three days available, the first two were spent in a pool format that would give the best performing teams the spots in the championship game. On Friday, East champions Norths defeated North winners Northside. Kelly Wilson missed out on a triple-double, but dished out 16 assists for South winners Bendigo in a win over West champions Cockburn. Ally Wilson’s 45 points were not enough for Central winners Norwood and they lost to Warwick. Amy Atwell had 44 points on Saturday to help Bendigo eliminate the Northside Wizards. An all-West affair had the Cockburn Cougars defeating Warwick, but having their season ended. Ally Wilson had another 47 points for the Norwood Flames, but they lost to Norths, which got 32 points from Maddie O’Hehir. That win had the Bears advancing and being the final obstacle for Bendigo in their quest for an undefeated season and the Braves got 46 points from Megan McKay and 18 assists from Kelly Wilson to complete their accomplishment.
The playoffs continued in Big V with teams in the top division looking to either advance to the finals or extend their seasons on Saturday. The Bulleen Boomers were almost pushed into a deciding game, but Olivia Bontempelli had 31 points and they forced overtime and won even though Porsche Poole had 35 points for the Sherbrooke Suns. Wyndham dominated the second half to sweep the other series against the McKinnon Cougars. The champions were crowned in the other two divisions and the Warrnambool Mermaids defeated the Bellarine Storm in the middle tier. Gippsland won in the third division against the Wallan Panthers.
New Zealand
Another week of play started with a Hoiho win over the Queens on Wednesday. IImar’I Thomas dropped 30 points in the main game on Thursday having already played the full 16 minutes in the preceding game and the Kahu defeated the Whai. It was Jasmine Dickey’s turn to exceed the 40 minute mark on Friday, but the Pouakai lost to the Queens 80-65. Two players on each side played over 40 minutes on Sunday as Kennedy Leonard and Esra McGoldrick did so for the Pouakai, who lead the standings in the reserve league, but IImar’I Thomas and Krystal Leger-Walker helped the Kahu win the main game and stay tied at the top of the standings.
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