Recap NBL1 CENTRAL | Round 1 Saturday

Round 1 of the Mitsubishi Motors NBL1 Central began with a swathe of new stars to keep an eye on plus teams not used to seeing W’s in the win column experiencing first up success…

Here are the results from Saturday's games:

Three Headed Lion roars as Centrals take opening night

The Lions new era quest to rise themselves off the bottom of the table in close to a decade begun in the Kayo game of the day with a bang as they took out distant rival the Eastern Mavericks 54-83 at the shooting gallery of St Francis. All three recruits fired for the Lions led by former Mav Tayla Levy with a double double of 24 points and 10 rebounds, Jasmin Fejo with 21 points and 10 rebounds and Bendigo Spirit recruit Casey Samuels with 20 points and eight rebounds.

Levy was no doubt having too much fun with this long bomb against her former side...

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EASTERN MAVERICKS 54 (Formby 13, Taylor 11, Roach 10)

CENTRAL DISTRICT LIONS 83 (Levy 24, J Fejo 21, Samuels 20)

Tiger streak continues thanks to starring Schenck 

The Tiger streak over the Panthers has been extended to 11 wins as a third quarter onslaught 9-23 from their southern rivals sealed a 65-84 win at the Jungle of Mitchell Park. Tiger import Regan Schenck led the way with a double double of 19 points and 10 rebounds backed up by Adelaide Lightning DP Bianca Stasinwosky with 17 points and eight rebounds. It was Ash Spencer with the game high 24 points and six rebounds for the South Adelaide Panthers that kept them in the first half but the tenacious Tigers tore away again as has been the history between these two rivals in the Womens.   

SOUTH ADELAIDE PANTHERS 65 (Spencer 24, Hodges 16, DeFrancesco 7)

SOUTHERN TIGERS 84 (Schenck 19, Stasinowsky 17, Harrison, McKendrick 14)

Star born Sienna seals first up win in Wild West Showdown 

The surprise individual performance of the night came from a junior star on the rise as Sienna Grieger announced herself with 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists in the West Adelaide Bearcats win over their rivals the Woodville Warriors - 59-85 at the Castle of St Clair. Grieger’s second half of 15 points was also backed up by new Canadian import Daneesha Provo who after a nervy start drained six triples on her way to 23 points and five rebounds.   

WOODVILLE WARRIORS 59 (Watkinson 18, Forbes 16, Haigh 12)

WEST ADELAIDE BEARCATS 85 (Grieger 26, Provo 23, Coleman 15)

Rigoni second half rush rolls Sabres over Eagles

Adelaide 36ers Jacob Rigoni grabbed the perfect personal start with a clinical shooting display of 14 points of his 34 points, eight rebounds and five assists as he along with Jordan Forbes guided the Sturt Sabres to a solid opening win over the Forestville Eagles 100-84 at the Cave in Springbank. Forbes added nine of his 14 points for the night in the second half as the Sabres produced 53-49 after they were jumped by the 2023 runner-ups. 

STURT SABRES 100 (Rigoni 34, Forbes, S Daly 14)

FORESTVILLE EAGLES 84 (Dibiamaka 16, Mays 15, D Johnson 13)

Sharif stars on opening night at the Castle

The wraps on the all-star five member of the BigV were big and after quarter time it was spoken into existence as the Woodville Warriors took out the first showdown of the season with a highly entertaining 104-93 win over the West Adelaide Bearcats at the Castle. Sharif Black amassed the highest total of the night with 39 points with six triples, nine rebounds, five assists putting the Bearcats to bed in the final term.

Former Big V star Sharif Black made a STATEMENT on debut ?

3??9?? points win the win over the reigning champs ?

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Despite a couple of key missing players - it was an impressive homecoming for new Bearcat Jordan Heading with 28 points, four assists and rebounds while stuck behind some star players in their championship year - it was a breakthrough night for Matthew Trandafil with 18 points at a perfect clip from the field.   

And he wasn’t missing anything…     

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WOODVILLE WARRIORS 104 (Black 39, McGee 19, Janssan 14)

WEST ADELAIDE BEARCATS 93 (Heading 28, Trandafil 18, Djeric 17)

Not Owen one for the Mavs as Raneburg makes it rain in OT

The night’s thrilling contest of the evening was the Kayo game of the day with a young hero stepping up to drain two massive rainmakers as the Eastern Mavericks claimed a pulsating 82-80 win in overtime over the Central District Lions at St Francis. The Mavs started strong but struggled in the second as Branden Jenkins who grabbed a game high 26 points, six rebounds and five assists gave the Lions a 32-45 lead. The final quarter fightback led by Moses Nuangki with 21 points and Lachie Hunter with a near double double of 20 points and nine rebounds - saw the match head to overtime after Kalani Sapwell’s long triple rimmed out on the buzzer.

Enter down the stretch of overtime Owen Raneburg who not only hit once but twice to give the Mavs a famous win…  

GET AROUND OWEN RANEBERG ?

GAME-WINNER IN OVERTIME OF ROUND 1 ?

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EASTERN MAVERICKS 82 (Nuangki 21, Hunter 20, Newburn 10)

CENTRAL DISTRICT LIONS 80 (Jenkins 26, Ka Sapwell 18, Dau 15)

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