Hoops Capital off-season wrap (March 17)

Hoops Capital fans got their first glimpse of numerous stars in their respective NBL1 colours across the weekend, as both the East and South hosted a pre-season Blitz tournament.

The former was held at the Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre, and all teams played twice before the competition's opening round in a fortnight. 

The Sutherland Sharks, featuring King #253 Jason Spurgin and coached by Shaun Roger, won both fixtures across the two days, firstly defeating Maitland (96-87) on Saturday before downing Central Coast (87-64) on Sunday.

The latter contained King #245 Klairus Amir, whose team split their weekend's fixtures after defeating Illawarra (87-39) on Saturday.

To the Flames side, the Norths Bears, coached by Renae Garlepp and containing Carla Pitman and Caitlyn Martin, won both their Blitz matches, easily accounting for Hills (85-65) and Illawarra (86-42).

That Hills side was headlined by Sherrie Calleia, who also went down to Maitland (76-66) on Sunday.

Elsewhere, Tahlia Tupaea and her Inner West Bullets defeated Sydney Comets (76-68) and Bankstown (84-61) across the weekend.

The Comets, featuring Piper Anderson, also tasted defeat at the hands of Canberra (68-44).

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To the South competition, and Tyler Robertson's Casey won both their matches over the weekend, defeating Eltham (89-76) and Waverley (82-76) - with the Kings guard scoring 17 and 14 points respectively in the fixtures.

While Flame #228 Bonnie Deas tallied 13 points in Frankston's 83-77 loss to Melbourne.

Round one of the NBL1 East and South competitions tips off on Saturday, March 29.