A WHOPPING five days of action made up the seventh round of the National Basketball League (NBL)’s 2024/25 season over the weekend, and the fixture continued its unpredictable nature.

From upsets to blowouts, it was another cracking batch of games that further demonstrated how tight the race for a spot in the finals will be in the coming weeks. Despite the absence of some big names around the courts, there were still some huge outings.

With that in mind, Rookie Me Central will be taking a look three of the top performances over the weekend, with some new and old faces catching the eye and making their mark in their respective wins.

Ben Henshall – Perth Wildcats

26 points, one rebound, six assists

Although the Wildcats were missing some key pieces, young gun Henshall helped them to an upset win over the Illawarra Hawks at RAC Arena on Friday night. Perth was considered the heavy underdog against the ladder-leading Hawks, but produced an astounding shooting performance to stun Illawarra and keep its season on track.

Henshall was the hero the Wildcats needed in the win, delivering a career-night against some quality opposition. His 26 points came on the back of an increased role offensively, and he thrived with more opportunity. Henshall shot 8/15 from the field, and also dished out six assists to ensure his teammates got involved too.

Parker Jackson-Cartwright – New Zealand Breakers

26 points, two rebounds, six assists, two steals

The Breakers are the form team of the competition at the moment, and showed that with an excellent win over the Adelaide 36ers on Saturday evening. New Zealand hosted the Sixers at Spark Arena, and had a tall task in slowing down an extremely talented Adelaide roster that had been firing on all cylinders of late. However, the Breakers were dominant from start to finish and ended up blowing out the visitors by 27 points.

Jackson-Cartwright has been in MVP form this season, and shot to favouritism with an outstanding showing against the Sixers. He had 26 points on 7/13 shooting from the field and 11/12 shooting from the free throw line. He continues to orchestrate New Zealand’s offence to perfection, and can find his teammates with well-timed passes, as demonstrated by six assists in this match.

Kouat Noi – Sydney Kings

26 points, two rebounds

Noi was a walking bucket for the Kings in the blowout win over the Tasmania JackJumpers at Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday afternoon. Sydney came into the match on a three-game losing streak, but had the perfect opportunity to bounce back against a JackJumpers side that has been the least productive side in the NBL. The Kings were far too good for the reigning champions, and recorded a whopping 28-point win.

Noi had the best night of his NBL career in the win over Tassie, helping the Kings jump out to an early lead and gain scoreboard ascendancy in the first half. Prior to the main break, Noi had already recorded five triples and was the most dominant offensive player on the court. Although his production slowed down in the second half, he had already left his mark on the match.