Feature images supplied via NBL1.com.au / Mark Willoughby
The Mitsubishi Motors NBL1 Central Men’s Grand Final saw redemption and an A-May-zing performance to drive their side over the line in one of the comebacks of the season...
Here is the result from tonight’s Grand Final
SOUTH ADELAIDE PANTHERS 90 defeated by FORESTVILLE EAGLES 92
A-May-zing performance rises redemption Eagles to comeback Championship
After coming up short last season the Forestville Eagles found redemption overcoming the South Adelaide Panthers 90-92 in an absolute state basketball final classic at the Adelaide 36ers Arena. A long standing consistent figure for the Eagles led them home in the final term determined to see the result not go the way it did the previous season.
The Woollacott Medallist of the Panthers Alex Starling opened one of the greatest grand finals we’ve ever seen with a pair of triples including this and1 finish.
Matching him in the opening term however was Eagle Greg Mays - finishing floaters, reverse layups and getting on the rim. Daniel Johnson (10 points and fours rebounds) opened his night in traditional DJ style with a turnaround jumper but Brad Rathjen was also feeding his team as the Eagles jumped out to a 6-14 start.
Greg Mays that is MAGIC ??
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Adelaide 36er Starling worked overtime in the first term to get the Panthers back into it with a feed to Jeremy Smith for the one handed jam to open his account for the evening - the Eagles just ahead 18-25.
Starling already had a game high 14 points and was off to a white hot start.
It was all Panthers at the start of the second with Starling and the one two hit combo of Curtis Scott (9 points) and Tom Kubank closing then grabbing the lead 33-29 off the back of a 15-4 run. Starling continued the streak by ripping the ball out of Mays hands but he returned the favour to the Panthers with an enormous block on Kubank. Smith buried the corner mid range off his mesmerising dribble with Sam Johns adding a couple of baskets late in the term to give the Panthers 45-40. Starling the star of the first half with 16 points and five rebounds along with Mays on 13 points, three rebounds and two blocks.
Mays and DJ kicked things off for the Eagles in the third but the Panthers defence kept them from taking the lead thanks to some heads up work from Kubank first denying Brad Rathjen on the rim then feeding Codey Ellison for a jam. Uche Dibiamaka (nine points for the quarter) quiet in the first half emerged in the third term with a quick five points to tie it 53-53 with both teams enjoying the block party in the arena. Jarryd Hoppo and Mays had solid ones but none were bigger than Kubank’s.
Tom Kubank gets that all the way OUTTA HERE ?
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Then we got the double play as Mays took care of Smith then Starling denied Dibiamaka
Smith then converted and1 like he did in the semi-final to leave it 64-61 with one left to play.
Scott had a triple early in the fourth with Starling’s corner two off balance falling in - DJ and Mays continuing to work in tandem with each other as crunch time approached. Kubank found Ellison with the high arcing pass for the alley-oop with Starling again trying to rally the Panthers along with Smith. On the next play DJ was having none of that a second time blocking the star guard with the resulting play finding Adam Doyle for the looped pass to Mays for the and1 alley-oop play 79-77.
Mays after heartbreak last year was not going to let this one go, putting the Eagles team on his back in the final minutes with two baskets back-to-back extending a 2-13 run to have Eagles up 79-82. Kubank and Dibiamaka (14 second half points) traded triples with a Mays free throw making it 82-86 - Smith finished strongly inside for the Panthers to make it a one basket game. Starling and Mays continued to battle at either end but some craftiness from DJ driving then slipping the pass to Rathjen gave the advantage slightly to the Eagles but Smith’s triple brought it back to a one point game again 87-88 with 25 seconds left.
It came down to the man who had 13 points in the final term and was not going to let this one slip after it got away last year…
GREG MAYS HAS DONE IT ??
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Mays' huge and1 play gave the Eagles the lead with just six seconds to play - the Panthers calling timeout and drawing up the play down by four points. Starling attempt out of the timeout missed but Kubank managed to grab an offensive ricochet to drain the triple then the panthers were forced to foul Doyle who with one free throw then missed the second deliberately to give the Eagles redemption and complete the comeback for the Championship.
Greg Mays was the man on the mission all night - in one of the games of his career his 13 last quarter points saw him finish with 32 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks backed up brilliantly by DJ claiming his first ever state title after several attempts with 20 points, 13 rebounds and four assists and Uche Dibiamaka the difference maker for the Eagles in 2024 finished with 19 points and three rebounds. Brad Rathjen also still feeling the affects of that ankle managed to with his six points dish out an incredible 15 assists and grab six rebounds.
Smith and Starling were solid all night with Smith top scoring for South with 26 points, six rebounds and five assists while Starling was contained in the second half but still finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds and three steals. Kubank had eight in the final term to finish with 16 points, four rebounds and three assists but was hounded by foul trouble a majority of the night.
Mays was elated post match speaking about the difference between what had changed between last year’s final and the winning one tonight. “This feels amazing and it’s really sweet. That's a good side over there. I respect them but this feels really sweet compared to the last one. I wanted to put the team on my back and do what I could for the guys in the group who hadn’t won one. Last year we didn’t execute offensively down the stretch but this year we did both coming up big and hitting big shots down the stretch.”
Coach Andy Simons was beaming with pride at his club’s eighth title in history and for the players who were yet to taste title success in the NBL1 Central. “I’m very proud of the boys, we had plenty of adversity through the finals and even during the game to come out on top it’s just a credit to them. We centered our team around the two bigs (Mays and DJ) all year and they didn’t let us down when it counted.”
When asked about the significance of this championship Simons shared you couldn’t compare them as they are all special to him. “You can’t rank them this is number eight - they're all good and especially hard to get into let alone win and tonight showed how hard they are to win - South were fantastic and what a great side they were.”
The Eagles will now continue to take flight as they take on the best in the nation at the National Finals starting next Friday night 16 August on the Sunshine Coast - but for now the ‘Eagle Rock’ will be on repeat all night at their home of Wayville till the early hours of the morning…
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SOUTH ADELAIDE PANTHERS 90 (Smith 26, Starling 24, Kubank 16)
FORESTVILLE EAGLES 92 (Mays 32, Johnson 20, Dibiamaka 19)
