NBL1 Central Round 3 – Wilson signals warning, Spear sends “United” Sabres to victory in OT

The WNBL Bendigo Spirit star sounded a warning to the rest of the competition she's back. Photo supplied by Picture IT Sports Photography

6-Minute Read

Woodville Warriors vs Norwood Flames

Wilson signals warning as Flames burn Warriors

The Norwood Flames rolled out their WNBL back court for the first time this season and it put the result beyond doubt at the half as the Flames fired their way to their first win 45-103 at the Castle. Bendigo Spirit’s Ally Wilson (36 points with 8 of 10 triples, 7 assists and 4 rebounds and steals) and Adelaide Lightning’s Brooke Basham (20 points with 4 of 5 triples, and 3 assists) combined for 20 points a piece of the Flames 23-48 first half on a ridiculous three-point percentage of 90 percent from the Flames. The Warriors were much better in the second half, but the Flames hurt them in other ways through their front court in Tara Girardi (16 points and 4 rebounds) and Alek Akuen (9 points and 15 rebounds). The Warriors were led by Emily Winter with 13 points and 9 rebounds with Regan Turnour-McCarty kept quiet by the away side.

Stepney steps up at closing time in Castle thriller

A last gasp free throw from Jawan Stepney and a frantic last 6 seconds of the match saw the Warriors redeem their last shot loss of the previous week and the Flames unfortunately go down in a thrilling 81-80 at the Castle. The game was full of runs with both teams finding momentum at different times, the quiet accumulation of stats was through David Humphries for the Warriors with 20 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals as he steadily influenced the contest. Stepney showed his all-round class with 17 points at 66 percent from the field, 3 rebounds, steals and assists and the unlikely battle between Riley Meldrum (10 of his 14 points coming in the first quarter at 71 percent) and Anthony Green of the Flames was mesmerising as both at different times took the ball at each other with each player blocking one then the other. Trey McBride showed he’s going to be a problem in this league producing a high quality 25 points at 64 percent with 5-9 triples, 6 steals, 5 rebounds and 3 assists to lead the way for the Flames while a cameo from Shaun Pontifex saw him drop a career high 14 points with 3 of 5 triples. Matt Lycett (17 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds) had a big third quarter and Daniel Webber (15 points and 3 assists) was solid majority of the night.

South Adelaide Panthers vs Forestville Eagles

Levecki first half haul gives Panthers pair of wins

Olivia Levecki was unstoppable in the first half as she dropped 17 points to setup the Panthers 74-66 win over the Eagles at Michael Ahmatt Court. Levecki finished with a double double of 24 points and 15 rebounds while Ash Spencer came home with a “Splash” to finish with 22 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists while the sweet shooting Jade Johnson dropped 18 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. The Eagles got contributions from Sam Simons (15 points, 4 rebounds and assists) and Rachel Hines (15 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists) while Izzy Stratford produced a quality double double of 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Smith ‘n’ Starling star in Eagles takedown

The Panthers have come out roaring in 2022 as they took down the Championship favourites the Forestville Eagles 92-80 in an impressive win at Michael Ahmatt Court. The import duo of Jeremy Smith (33 points and 6 rebounds) and Alex Starling (24 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists and steals) took advantage of the Doyle-Fistonless Eagles which still had a high-quality lineup hit the floor. The Panthers had too many answers at crucial times of the game as they produced a 29-16 last quarter through Smith (18 points) including a 7-0 run to ice the game. The Eagles Greg Mays led the way with 18 points and 13 rebounds continuing his good recent form against the Panthers, Malith Machar stepped up for a game high 24 points at 66 percent, 7 rebounds and 4 assists and Jake Rios shot it well in the second quarter to finish with 18 points, 3 assists and rebounds.

Central District Lions vs Eastern Mavericks

Knight one a success for Mavs

The threat of a streak ending for the Lions was quickly put to sleep in the third quarter 6-20 as new coach Steve Knight made his first one a good one with a 60-84 win over the Central District Lions at the Den. The two Canadian imports touched down and got to work straight away as Bridgette Lefebvre-Okanku (23 points and 10 rebounds) and Oksana Gouchie-Provencher (18 points) combined for 41 points and 20 rebounds with U18 AJC star Olivia Bradley coming off the pine for 13 points, 3 rebound and assists and Chloe Dumesny starting her season on song with 13 points, 6 assists and 3 rebounds. The Lions were led by Casey Samuels with 19 points and 3 rebounds and Raynisha Washington 14 points and 13 rebound double double. Import centre Tyla Bennett made her debut for the Lions in time and had 6 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists but having only just arrived by plane will have an impact very soon on the competition.

Dowdell demolition sinks Mavs

A 76 percent laden 26-point first half from Tobias Dowdell demolished a depleted Eastern Mavericks unit 109-80 at the Den. Dowdell dominated from the tip to finish with 29 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists and threw down a jam that probably contends with the Ray Harding one last week for early contention for throw down of the year. Sunday Bol also got busy for a career high 22 points in 25 minutes at 83 percent from the field, 7 rebounds and 5 assists and Bijan Johnson added 5 rebounds and 4 assists. The Mavs got their crumbs from Lachlan Knibbs with 26 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists and a pair of 17 point contributions from Matt Stock and Marko Miskovic but clearly lacked the absence of some familiar faces on the floor.

Southern Tigers vs North Adelaide Rockets

McKendrick makes move as Tigers claw young Rockets

The Tigers restored their order clawing away the young North Adelaide Rockets lineup thanks to a return to the scoreboard of Mollie McKendrick 85-60 at the Cage. McKendrick emerged as the third scoring threat behind Yaeger (27 points and 7 assists) who stepped back her way through some ridiculous treys (6-9 with three in the 28-14 second quarter) and Skinner as she dropped a much needed 18 points and 5 rebounds. For the Rockets the Peyton on their import finally was stamped as Taylor made her much anticipated debut with 25 points and 4 rebounds in a lean night for the red and white. Fellow import Rayven Thomas clocked up 8 points and 8 rebounds in her first outing to show some promise for North.

Riley rockets again as North nail Tigers

Backing up last week, Riley Harrap emerged from the pine to nail the Tigers to the floor as his Rockets comfortably got over them 70-91 at the Cage. Harrap finished with 18 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds and is quickly becoming one of the leagues most improved players early. The front court is where it was won though as the Rockets through their imports Jamar Akoh (13 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals) and Terry Winn (11 points, 4 assists, 3 steals) took over the young Tigers in the paint 34-54. The Tigers Machar Machar was the best for the home side with 17 points and 6 rebounds along with Ricardo Martin with 15 points and 3 rebounds.

Sturt Sabres vs West Adelaide Bearcats

Sabres start snaps Bearcats run

They started late but to quiet a few doubters the Sturt Sabres came out “United” and won their opening game against the in-form Bearcats 77-70 at the Cave. The Sabres burst out of the blocks with a 26-12 start thanks to import Mikayla Williams making an impact for 8 of her 15 points in the first stanza to pair with her 9 rebounds. The Sabres bench also brought it with 31 points coming through Emily Close and Jasmine Rigoni with 12 points each. Skye Langenbrinck nearly with her left hand led the Bearcats back into the contest to finish with 22 points along with Jasmin Fejo who continued her red-hot start to the season with 19 points and 5 assists.

Spear sends “United” Sabres to victory in OT

The Sabres opened their season in spectacular fashion in an overtime thriller 100-98 at the Cave. Former 36ers Rookie guard Joel Spear nailed 31 points in the first half and topped the highest individual score of the 2021 season (42 points to Jack McVeigh) with a career high 43 points at 69 percent including 4 triples and 7 of 12 from the charity stripe, 6 rebounds and 3 assists to get his United Church uniformed team across the line. Jacob Rigoni playing his first game back from college produced a quality 20 point and 14 rebound double double.

Nik DeSantis (28 points at 77 percent, 6 rebounds and 3 assists) the former Sabre put the Bearcats within 1 point in regulation 88-87 with a dagger triple before Rigoni missed the resulting shot at the other end, Lachlan Hunter (13 points and 5 rebounds) then out of the timeout grabbed the baseline jumper to put them front with Spear then drawing the foul to send himself to the line where he made one of two. The Bearcats had a chance to win it in regulation, but Nate Sheppard’s shot missed and took the game to overtime. Anthony Spadavecchia got busy in the period with some big time buckets but it came down to Rigoni who closed the contest with a layup despite two attempts in the last seconds for Sheppard (26 points with 5-8 triples and 5 rebounds); the last made but waved away after the final buzzer…

NBL1 Central continues tomorrow with Round 4 on ANZAC Day

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