Recap NBL1 Central | Round 11 Sunday

Feature images via: Dan Cowley @imagesby_dan for @pickandrollau | Neil Goldsmith @neilgoldsmith

Round 11 of the Mitsubishi Motors NBL1 Central concluded through a raft of upset results in the Women's while in the Men’s ruthless execution saw sides bounce back hard to resume order.  

Here are the results from Sunday's games:

Warriors winning ways continue with Ida grounding of Rockets   

The Woodville Warriors Women are making it pour at the moment with one following two victories in a row as they upset the North Adelaide Rockets 63-64 at the Lights. Import Ida Andersson delivered on what she promised coming into the season with a season high 28 points at 66 percent with eight triples. She surged the Warriors to the lead in the opening stanza 10-22 with the Rockets struggling to find the target.

It took Brooke Basham (21 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals) to steer the Rockets back into the contest against their energetic opponents but Warrior Holly Forbes kept the scoreboard ticking over with 15 points and 19 rebounds of her own.

Forbes kept adding to the Warriors total as the Rockets fired back at them through Basham but Andersson’s eighth triple edged them just in front to register their second win for the season and bring the Rockets back to earth in season 2024.   

Can the Warriors continue their resurgence??? Find out when they take on the Central Districts Lions next week in the NBL1 Central on Saturday 22 June at 6:30pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App

NORTH ADELAIDE ROCKETS 63 (Basham 21, J Freer 12, Anderson 10)

WOODVILLE WARRIORS 64 (Andersson 28, Forbes 15, Whitmore 8)

 

Flames rise to singe Eagles in thrilling finish    

After flying away from the Tigers the Forestville Eagles took on a different challenge in the run and gun Norwood Flames and buoyed by their near victory against the Sabres - the Flames rose up to singe the Eagles 65-64 in a home thriller at the Furnace. It was a tight afternoon with the lead staying mainly at single digits with the Flames getting the hot start through Emily Saunders to take a 19-13 lead at quarter time.

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The Eagles flew back into the tussle through Jess Simons (12 points) and Maddy Freer (14 points and 11 rebounds) to take it to 54-48 with one to play. 

Ella Sawyer’s step around jumper with all sorts of pressure on her gave the Eagles the lead late in the fourth but an immediate answer from Eva Langton with the reverse layup (seven points and 11 rebounds) saw the Flames reclaim the lead. Freer missed her contested layup giving the Flames the box seat but weren’t able to get a shot away with a late shot clock violation giving the Eagles one last look from the timeout.

Freer’s contested corner floater fell short and the Flames fired back for a memorable win. Saunders for the Flames was dominant through the four terms with 20 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and two blocks. 

NORWOOD FLAMES 65 (Saunders 20, Stratford 9, Hinton, Turner 8)

FORESTVILLE EAGLES 64 (M Freer 14, Simons 12, A Brett 9)

 

Tigers roar back to throw Lions off their rock  

The Kayo Freebies Game of the Week saw a response from one of the early season favourites against the team with the unlikely rise historically but the form team of the two - despite a loss to the Bearcats the previous night. The Tigers however assumed their historical dominance against the Central Districts Lions with a strong willed 81-72 win at the Cage.

Both teams went head to head early with veteran Mollie McKendrick and Bianca Stasinwosky keeping the Tigers ahead 25-21 after the first. Jasmin Fejo returned serve for the Lions with seven of her 15 points, seven rebounds coming in the second term. The Tigers took control in the third, grinding the Lions down in a 17-9 quarter before finishing their work in the final term to claim a crucial win to keep them in touch with the top five and bring one of the top two closer to the pack.

Stasinowsky lit it up from the field all afternoon with 21 points with four triples and McKendrick the barometer for her side yielded 16 points of great influence to help secure victory. 

   

Can the young Flames continue to surprise the back end of the season or will the Southern Tigers claw their way back towards the top five??? Find out when they take on each other next Saturday night at 6:00pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App.  

SOUTHERN TIGERS 81 (Stasinowsky 21, McKendrick 16, Harrison 12)

CENTRAL DISTRICTS LIONS 72 (Levy 20, J Fejo 15, Samuels 14)

 

Panthers pull away from Sabres to secure second win of the weekend 

It was billed as a must watch for the weekend with close encounters of the blue kind usually between these two - but minutes before the end of the third quarter the matchup between the South Adelaide Panthers and the Sturt Sabres turned sharply towards the home side.

A 23-0 unanswered run from the Panthers led by their two stars in Alex Starling (29 points, eight rebounds and seven assists) and Jeremy Smith (27 points, six assists and three steals) led the Panthers to a 87-68 win and their first over their close rivals in three meetings.

It looked like a blow for blow contest all through the first half with young gun from the Sabres in Patrick D’Arcy icing three triples in the opening quarter to finish with a career high 21 points and along with young centre Ben Griscti (16 points and eight rebounds) were the best for the away side.

The Panthers however would not be denied as they climbed their way back towards the top two.

    

The Panthers mission to return to the top two continues when they take on the first placed Forestville Eagles on Saturday 22 June at 6:30pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. 

SOUTH ADELAIDE PANTHERS 87 (Starling 29, Smith 27, Kubank 12) 

STURT SABRES 68 (D’Arcy 21, Griscti, Rigoni 16)

 

Eagles unleash on Flames at the Furnace    

It was too close for comfort the previous night and given the Norwood Flames had almost sparked their upset against the Sabres - the top of the table Forestville Eagles erased any thought of a repeat effort with an unleashing of power 64-116 at the Furnace.

Greg Mays got it started with some air action above the rim…

GREG MAYS TOOK FLIGHT! ??

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He finished with 20 points and eight rebounds while Daniel Johnson collected another 24 points, six rebounds, three assists and steals - Uche Dibiamaka bounced back from a quiet night with 20 points at 73 percent and five rebounds along with three steals. 

It was a rough afternoon for the Flames with no Flame being able to manage double figures with Isaac Miller-Jose the best with nine points and five rebounds. 

The Eagles are flying this season and you can catch them again next Saturday night against the Panthers at 6:30pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. 

FORESTVILLE EAGLES 93 (Johnson 24, Dibiamaka, Mays 20)

NORWOOD FLAMES 64 (Miller Jose 9, Dodson, Harrap, Hemphill, Stanwix, Webber 7)

Bearcats blast Mavericks out of Port   

The ruthless revenge after their shock loss on Saturday night was felt fully by the Eastern Mavericks as they ran into the West Adelaide Bearcats blast 126-85 at the Bearcat Cave at the Port. The Bearcats 126 is the third equal highest team total since 2021 and was laden with stat stuffing numbers.

Leading the way was Fabian Krslovic with 21 points, 18 rebounds and four assists just ahead of Anthony Drmic with 31 points with seven triples, seven assists and six rebounds. Akoldah Gak finished a very good weekend personally with 23 points and 13 rebounds while Joel Spear made the most of his time with a highly accurate 19 points at 86 percent with six triples. Mirko Djeric although quiet in scoring - dished 13 assists to round out the large set of figures. 

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The Mavs got their best again from the vastly improved Owen Raneburg with 17 points backing up a career high of 32 points the previous night against the Warriors as did Micale Mee who started his first game to finish with 16 points and three rebounds.

  

The Bearcats' bold dash to back to back continues next week against the Sturt Sabres 8:15pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App.  

WEST ADELAIDE BEARCATS 124 (Drmic 31, AK Gak 23, Krslovic 21)

EASTERN MAVERICKS 85 (Raneburg 17, Mee 16, Webb 13)

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