Blanchfield driving Hawks towards another deep finals run

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The Illawarra Hawks continued their push towards the 2026 NBL1 East Men's finals as they defeated the Albury Wodonga Bandits 93-73 at home in the Snakepit, bouncing back after last weekend's loss.

For the Bandits, the loss was their fourth consecutive defeat, piling onto what has been a tumultuous season so far. I was able to speak to caretaker head coach Matthew "Harry" Morgan before the game, who said there was a clear positive outlook on what the experience meant for his young group.

"We try and stick to our game plan," Morgan said.

"We've got a lot of young guys in our team, so we look at it as a great opportunity to play against the best players in the competition. It comes back to just hard catches, denying the ball, just the hard stuff."

That approach showed in the result. Reigning NBL1 East MVP Todd Blanchfield, who is chasing back to back awards this season, was held to just 19 points on 8 from 18 shooting, going 2 from 10 from three. By his standards, a quiet night.

But it wasn’t enough to halt the Hawks' high-octane, motion heavy offence and proved too deep for the young Bandits to contain. While their defensive rotations did a good job of limiting the Hawks usual 3 point barrage, Illawarra was able to get downhill and score in the paint.

Matt Mims finished with 25 points and seven assists, while Mohamed Kone contributed 20 points and three steals. The game was effectively decided by a devastating 20-0 Hawks run in the second quarter that turned a competitive contest into a rout.

In a losing effort, Kevion Blaylock was the Bandits' standout finishing with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Morgan was measured but honest about what a season like this one can bring to an organisation.

"We want to develop our young guys, but we still want to try and win games," he said.

"It becomes a little bit of a juggling act."

Sunday night's games in the NBL1 doubleheader weekend brought much of the same. The Illawarra Hawks crushed the Sydney Comets 102-79 with Mims leading the way with 23 points. This time, the Hawks shooting was lights out as they nailed 17 shots from beyond the arc at a 57% clip.

The win brings the Hawks to first place on the NBL1 east ladder, matching the North Bears’ 14-3 record.

The Bandits meanwhile lost in a bottom of the table clash against the Penrith Panthers, losing 98-91 despite Baylock’s 36.