Gold Coast Rollers to host three-game NBL1 North championship series

The Gold Coast Rollers will play for the NBL1 North championship following a stunning win over Northside in front of a record crowd. FULL DETAILS

THE Gold Coast Rollers will host USC Rip City in a three-game series to decide the NBL1 North championship following a comfortable win over the Northside Wizards.

A record Rollers crowd of around 900 people descended on Carrara Stadium to watch Gold Coast cruise to a 108-85 win over Northside.

As the top ranked team in the league, the Rollers earned the right to host this week’s three-game final series that will be played from Friday to Sunday.

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Donovan Mitchell led the way for Gold Coast, shooting 35 points while recording nine rebounds and three assists in a huge performance in front of home fans.

The huge crowd and continued elite performances of the Rollers come as some of the city’s top basketball figures prepare for a renewed push for an NBL licence.

“It was a lot of fun out there,” Mitchell said.

“The fans were amazing. Ten minutes before the game even started we saw the crowd and they were full of energy. It didn’t look like a seat was empty.

“There is something about playing basketball, those are the crowds you think about playing in front of.

“It is super important they come out this week to support us. I hope they feel like they won the game (on Saturday) as well because they did.

“I think they had the other team rattled. They were loud from the jump-ball and into every minute of the game. They may as well have been on the court with us.”

The semi-final win over Northside was Mitchell’s biggest for the Rollers since joining the team in 2022.

“I honestly couldn’t have told you I had 35 (points) until the fourth quarter,” he said.

“Everything I got was in the flow of the offence. I wasn’t trying to force anything.

“All I knew was that we were winning and at the end of the game I saw we got the ‘W’ and the 35 went nicely along with it.”

USC beat Gold Coast 96-86 when they last met in Round 10 of the season but Mitchell said the Rollers were well positioned to flip the script in the biggest series of the year.

“They were very physical when we played them,” he said.

“We just have to do what we do. We can’t focus on anything besides what goes on in our locker room and in our huddles. If we do that we will be fine.”