Their front court might be decimated but the Waverley Falcons could still win a second National Championship in three years based on their Friday performance.

Featured image: Tia De Santis | @tia.desa

The Waverley Falcons shook off their tough NBL1 South Grand Final to be a chance at a second NBL1 National Finals with Katelyn Shumate and Georgia Pineau combining for 48 points in the 86-72 win over NBL1 North champions the Mackay Meteorettes.

The Falcons went through the NBL1 South without key front court pair Sophia Locandro and Maddi Utti so did a tremendous job to even make the Grand Final before coming up short against the rampant Knox Raiders last Saturday night in Melbourne.

Waverley have also arrived without Carley Ernst who returned this season following the birth of her second child along with Hannah Rapp as they took on the NBL1 North champion Meteorettes in Adelaide on Friday.

Mackay secured their championship two weeks ago with dominant Game 1 and 3 performances on the road to the Townsville Flames but also arrived at the National Finals minus Monique Bobongie along with having that extra week before getting to Adelaide.

They did still have import pair River Baldwin and Sammie Puisis, though, but it was Waverley with the better of the start to lead 28-12 by the end of one after 12 points to Katelyn Shumate on the back of taking a massive 13 extra shots with their eight offensive rebounds and six turnovers from Mackay.

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Mackay took better care of the ball in the second term with just three turnovers and limited Waverley to four offensive rebounds, and as a result got back into the contest with 21 points including nine to Chelsea Brook who was up to 17 at half-time on perfect 7/7 shooting.

The Falcons were still clinging to the 45-40 lead by half-time with Shumate up to 15 points and Georgia Pineau having 12 while they still did have an extra 13 shot attempts in the first 20 minutes.

Things tightened up further in the third frame and Mackay ended up outscoring Waverley 18 points to 15 and that cut the Falcons lead to just two by three quarter-time.

Waverley then took control in the last quarter with 26 points to 14 on the way to the eventual 14-point win to keep themselves with a chance of another National Finals triumph to go with the win they had on the Sunshine Coast in 2024.

The Falcons ended up taking an extra 15 shots and five more free throws for the game than Mackay on the back of 21 offensive rebounds to 11, and forcing the Meteorettes into 13 turnovers even though there were just seven over the last three quarters.

Katelyn Shumate delivered 25 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals in the win for Waverley on 5/10 three-point shooting with Georgia Pineau providing 23 points, 12 boards and two steals.

Liana Kinkela also had 12 points and seven rebounds, the retiring Amelia Todhunter 12 points, nine boards and four assists, Amy O'Hara six points and nine rebounds, and Millie McCarthy six points, seven assists and three boards.

Championship captain Chelsea Brook had a huge performance for Mackay despite the loss with 30 points and 11 rebounds on 12/17 shooting from the field and 4/8 from the outside.

Import centre River Baldwin had another strong showing with 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks with Sammie Puisis adding 12 points and eight boards, and Cheyenne Bobongie eight assists to go with five rebounds, two points and two steals.

NBL1 NATIONALS FINALS 2026 | DAY 1

WAVERLEY FALCONS 86 (Shumate 25, Pineau 23, Kinkela 12, Todhunter 12)

MACKAY METEORETTES 72 (Brook 30, Baldwin 19, Puisis 12)

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National Finals | Shumate, Pineau star for Falcons