NBL1 CENTRAL FINALS – Preliminary Finals Recap

It was a night where two teams who have not been to the big dance for nearly over half a decade returned with a few moves of their own – waltzing their way into their first Grand Finals since 2016 and 2017.

Here are the results from Saturday’s games:

Preliminary Final: Norwood Flames vs Southern Tigers

Avalanche Ally buries Tigers to put Flames into decider 

They couldn’t stop her last time the Southern Tigers when she got cooking and that was the case as superstar Ally Wilson put the Norwood Flames into their first Grand Final since 2016 with a fire-powered 79-69 win at the ARC.

The Flames got off to a red-hot start off the back of last time hero Jorjah Smith (10 points for the match) with some early baskets, but the Tigers Morgan Yaeger hit some tough contested shots to bring the margin back via a 0-10 run. Yeager however struck some foul trouble early again denting her influence on the rest of the opener. Both teams neck-and-neck heading into the first break 18-15.

The second quarter belonged to the Flames Sharna Thompson who hit some big shots – the Flames continuing to swarm Mollie McKendrick and Yaeger. The Flames heat defensively made it a dour and highly pressured second half of the quarter as both teams saw good shots just rim out and pressured at every turn towards the hardwood baseline. Both teams were right in it but the Flames took the momentum into the second half leading 33-29 at the main break.

Don't give Alex Wilson ??? ?????? to shoot ?

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That’s when Ally Wilson took the game by the scruff of the neck and heaved it into her team’s favour with a raucous home crowd making large amounts of noise everytime the Tigers visited the free throw line (13/26 for the evening). Tiger sharpshooter Bianca Stasinowsky drained some big-time shots (nine points for the quarter) to have the Tigers in front 42-44 after the Flames burst out with a 7-0 start to the quarter – but the deadly nature of Wilson belonged to her entirely after that point. Wilson piled on 14 points for the term, collected seven rebounds and was unstoppable as she set the tone for one to go with the Flames leading 59-49 – sniffing an elusive grand final appearance.

Wilson got the Flames cooking early to have them out 70-53 but a fightback led by import Brittany Hernandez and Yaeger saw coach Will Smith call a crucial timeout 70-59. From there the Flames found their outside range through Thompson, Sophie Kerridge and Wilson holding off some late baskets from Stasinowsky and Margot Hall with Wilson holding her nerve at the free throw line (something that ended up a huge difference in the game with the Flames finihsing with 14/20) and taking the Flames to their first women’s Grand Final in nearly seven years.

Alex Wilson was breathing ???? in the prelim ?

They've done it the hard way, but her 34 point, 17 rebound double-double has guided Norwood to the Grand Final ?

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Wilson was above and all conquering and left plenty in awe with her 34 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and two steals followed by a supporting cast of Thompson (15 points), Kerridge (12 points, five assists and another outstanding job on Yaeger) and Jada Rice (6 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks).

The Tigers best was their young rising talent in Stasinowsky who will be one to watch for the future with 21 points with four triples and nine rebounds followed by Yaeger who still managed a strong 18 points and five rebounds. Hernandez’s second half was a good comeback for her finishing with a 10 point and 13 rebound double double and McKendrick narrowly missed a triple double with eight points, eight assists and 10 rebounds.         

The Norwood Flames will now meet the Sturt Sabres for the second time in three weeks in the Grand Final at the Adelaide 36ers Arena next Saturday night.

Men’s Preliminary Final: West Adelaide Bearcats vs Sturt Sabres

Drmic casts spell over Sabres to lift Bearcats into first since 2017

The West Adelaide Bearcats dispelled any notion this one was going to be a struggle early as they blitzed their way to their first Grand Final since 2017 as they dismantled the Sturt Sabres 96-73 at the Port.

Tasmanian Jackjumper Anthony Drmic bit the Sabres early while Illawarra Hawk Lachlan Olbrich soared as they both notched 10 first quarter points – Drmic working in a phone box on the three-point line and Olbrich beasting inside. Tobias Dowdell’s pair of triples kept the Sabres in some touch but the Bearcats jumped in front 25-12 after one.

The second was much closer as league coaches MVP Jordan Forbes and Jacob Rigoni brought them back within 35-26 but Drmic continued to cast a spell including an up-stairs slam over the Sabres. Nik DeSantis continued to get downhill on the drive for his points and had the Bearcats with a handy 54-37 lead at the half.

 

 

 

 

 

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Any chance of a comeback again was dispelled as Drmic continued to wreck the Sabres joined by former team-mate at the Adelaide 36ers in Mitch McCarron and youngster Sean Stock (four points for the quarter) as the minor premiers held a commanding 75-49 heading for home.

It became party time and preparation for the Bearcats in the final term with even time to introduce veteran Anthony Spadavecchia into the fold – possibly gunning for one last title before potential retirement next week.

Drmic set the tone from the start with 27 points, eight rebounds and three assists while McCarron delivered, dished and even helped himself in his 21 points, nine assists and six rebounds. Olbrich was too big and strong with all those deliveries with 14 points and six rebounds and DeSantis put the cherry on top of a wonderful performance with 18 points.

The Sabres got wonderful service from their Sabre J’s in Forbes (18 points, four assists and rebounds) and Rigoni (19 points, six rebounds and three assists) but struggled for their usual contributions across their other lines.     

The West Adelaide Bearcats will now meet the Forestville Eagles for the second time in three weeks in the Grand Final at the Adelaide 36ers Arena next Saturday night