NBL1 Central Recap | Sunday First Nations Round

The Woodville Warriors and Sturt Sabres split their NBL1 Central matches on Sunday to close First Nations Round while the West Adelaide Bearcats won both clashes with the Central District Lions including a dramatic men's overtime battle.

The two men's matches on Sunday to close First Nations Round in NBL1 Central saw the Woodville Warriors beat the Sturt Sabres 96-85, and the West Adelaide Bearcats defeat the Central District Lions 87-86 in overtime.

Earlier, the women's action saw the Sabres beat the Warriors 83-76 and the Bearcats defeat the Lions 81-73.

WOMEN

Sabres work hard to stay perfect over Warriors

The Sturt Sabres ended up keeping their perfect record alive this NBL1 Central season but they were made to earn the 83-76 win against the Woodville Warriors.

Woodville played host to Sturt on Sunday to close the penultimate round in NBL1 Central and the Warriors gave themselves a real chance at handing the Sabres their first defeat of the season.

Woodville opened up a lead of as much as nine points during the third quarter but Sturt responded with that perfect record on the line, and with that strong finish ended up winning by seven.

The victory leaves Sturt perfect on the season with a 17-0 record with one game remaining in the regular season on the road to the Eastern Mavericks this coming Saturday.

The loss sees Woodville slip to a 4-13 record and the Warriors will finish their season against the South Adelaide Panthers on Saturday.

Jasmine Rigoni ended up top-scoring in the win for Sturt with 21 points in 27 minutes off the bench on the back of shooting 5/11 from three-point territory.

Mikayla Williams added 18 points and 14 rebounds, Kayla Matthews 13 points, six boards, three assists and two steals.

Nicole Fransson did what she could to lift Woodville to the win with 27 points, 15 rebounds and two steals on the back of shooting 12/21 from the field.

Emily Winter also contributed 19 points, nine boards, four assists and two steals for the Warriors, and Molly Whitmore eight points and four rebounds.

Serious hustle from Zoe Walker-Roberts to keep it in play ?

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Bearcats overcome slow start to beat Lions

The West Adelaide Bearcats had to fight back from a slow start but were able to do so to beat the Central District Lions to remain in fourth position in the NBL1 Central.

Central Districts were home at STARplex playing host to the Bearcats and started strongly to race out to a 14-point lead during the opening quarter.

The Lions were still leading by 13 points during the second term before West Adelaide worked back into the contest and by half-time were only trailing by a point.

It was then all the Bearcats in the second half as they opened up their own double-digit advantage before winning by eight away from home.

West Adelaide remains in fourth position with the victory holding a 10-7 record before finishing the regular season against the second placed Southern Tigers on the road on Saturday.

The defeat leaves Central District in last place with a 1-16 record with one more game of the season to go at home to the Forestville Eagles on Saturday.

Molly Coleman provided another strong showing for West Adelaide ending up with 17 points, nine rebounds and two assists on the back of shooting 8/14 from the floor.

Jasmin Fejo also provided 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists, Honoka Ikematsu 13 points and two steals with 3/5 three-point shooting, Andrea Aquino 12 points and seven boards, Genna Anderson 11 points and 13 rebounds, and Abby Brenton eight points, five assists and three boards.

Despite the loss, Jaedyn De La Cerda was terrific for Central Districts to end up with 26 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals.

Imani Guy added 17 points, nine rebounds, two steals and two blocks for the Lions, Tiahna Sears 10 points, seven boards and two steals, and Madelyn Curry nine points with 3/4 shooting from beyond the arc.

Do ??? give Jaedyn De La Cerda space outside the arc ?

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MEN

Woodville score strong win over Sturt

The Woodville Warriors shook off a slow start to soon take charge and end up scoring the 96-85 home victory against the Sturt Sabres on Sunday.

Sturt started impressively away from home with a 10-0 run in the opening quarter on the way to an eight-point lead.

However, the Warriors soon took charge with their own 11 straight points and eventually they would lead by 15 in the second period to be in control 55-43 by half-time.

Woodville would extend out to a 15-point lead again in the second half on the way to the eventual 11-point victory. 

Following the win, Woodville improves to a 10-7 record on the season in fifth position with a game to go on Saturday away to the defending champion South Adelaide Panthers.

With the loss, Sturt sits in fourth spot at 12-5 before finishing the regular season on Saturday against the Eastern Mavericks away from home.

Jawan Stepney delivered a spectacular performance in the win for Woodville finishing with 35 points, 12 rebounds and five assists while shooting 15/25 from the floor and 4/11 from behind the three-point line.

Riley Meldrum also delivered 23 points, three rebounds and two assists for the Warriors, Joe Jackson 14 points, 10 boards, two assists and two blocks, and Dave Humphries seven points, two rebounds and two assists.

Despite the loss, Jacob Rigoni delivered a strong performance for Sturt with 27 points, 19 rebounds and three assists.

Jordan Forbes also produced 16 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, Sam Daly 14 points, five boards and three assists, and Jamie Smith eight points with two three-point makes.

Fresh off dropping 49 points on Saturday, Jawan Stepney found another ???? 3??5?? points in Woodville's win over Sturt ?

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Drmic, Roxburgh with huge threes in OT win for Bearcats

Anthony Drmic knocked down the huge three to send the game to overtime and then another from Fraser Roxburgh sealed the win in extra time 87-86 for the West Adelaide Bearcats against the Central District Lions.

It was Central Districts who made the first break in the game to lead by as much as 10 points in the second quarter but the Bearcats stayed close enough to strike, were back in front during the third term and it was set for a big finish.

Every time in the fourth quarter that Central Districts threatened to open up a match-winning lead, West Adelaide responded including after Ngor Nai hit a huge three with three minutes to play to put the home team up four.

Fraser Roxburgh responded with a three-point play and then ultimately it was a three-point bomb from Anthony Drmic that showed nerves of steel to send the game into overtime.

The shot that sent West Adelaide into over-time??

Anthony Drmic is ???-???? ?

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Then in the extra period, again the Lions went out to a five-point lead but it was a Nik DeSantis three-pointer that brought the Bearcats back into the contest.

Soon after it was the turn for Roxburgh to turn hero and knock down what could be the biggest three-pointer of his career to secure the dramatic and thrilling one-point victory.

It did have a piece of late drama with Drmic missing his first free-throw and then deliberately missing the second but not disguising it well enough. However, the Lions didn’t quite have enough time to get a shot off.

Following the one-point win, West Adelaide further consolidates top spot in the NBL1 Central with a 14-3 record before finishing the regular season away to the Southern Tigers on Saturday.

Central District now sits on a 4-13 record in eighth place before finishing on Saturday at home to the Forestville Eagles.

Following the dramatic afternoon, Nik DeSantis finished up top-scoring for the league-leading Bearcats with 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Fraser Roxburgh also delivered 20 points and six rebounds while making 4/7 from three-point territory with Anthony Drmic adding 19 points, eight boards and seven assists in a terrific 45-minute all-round performance.

Lachlan Olbrich added 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists, and Joel Spear seven points, six boards and two assists.

Branden Jenkins finished up with 27 points, eight assists, six rebounds and two steals for Central Districts with Kalani Sapwell producing 20 points and four boards, Magok Manyang 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Ngor Nai 11 points and six boards. 

Nikolas Desantis shows off his strength ?

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