Category: Basketball Features

What if there was NBL1 Central All-Star Weekend?

Thanks to an idea from Downtown Allan Browne and our NBL1 Central Commentary Crew, we wondered if we were to have an All-Star weekend what shape would it take and who’d be our picks, here’s my take on the concept for 2022…

These lineups would be something to behold and showcase the best the league has to offer to the rest of the nation. Pictures by LukeJMedia/Luke Mollett; Snap shot Photography and Picture IT Sports Photography

3-Minute Read

My format would be as so in the form of four games across the weekend with the North taking on the South clubs with two different selections. Each club must have at least one nomination suit up for their respective conference all-star team.

North (Central District Lions, North Adelaide Rockets, Norwood Flames, West Adelaide Bearcats and Woodville Warriors)

South (Southern Tigers, South Adelaide Panthers, Sturt Sabres, Eastern Mavericks and Forestville Eagles)

  • NBL1 Central All-Stars (Mens and Womens)
  • NBL1 Central Rising-Stars (Mens and Womens born after 2000)
  • NBL1 Central three-point stars (Four of the best from the league, Mens and Womens: can be an all-star player)
  • NBL1 Central All-Stars Skills Comp (Four of the best from the league, Mens and Womens: must not be in all-star game)

Here is my list of the above I’d nominate from the clubs in a three guard and two forward selection

Northern All-Stars (Women) – Coached by Kay Lee-Stuart

Guard – Jasmin Fejo (Bearcats)

Guard – Ally Wilson (Flames)

Guard – Casey Samuels (Lions)

Forward – Regan-Tunour McCarty (Warriors)

Forward – Jennie Rintala (Bearcats)

Guard – Brooke Basham (Flames)

Guard – Sam DeFrancesco (Rockets)

Guard – Ranisha Washington (Lions)

Forward – Peyton Taylor (Rockets)

Forward – Emily Winter (Warriors)

The team has some of the most skilful guards in the league and watching Fejo and Wilson feed Casey Samuels at the perimeter while Tunour-McCarty and Rintala are mobile bigs that cause trouble for the Southern team. Off the bench is scoring and punch through Basham, DeFrancesco and Washington complete with rebounding masterclasses from Taylor and Winter.

Superstar Ally Wilson would do it all for the Northern All-Stars

Southern All-Stars (Women) – Coached by Richard Dickel

Guard – Morgan Yaeger (Tigers)

Guard – Ash Spencer (Panthers)

Guard – Sam Simons (Eagles)

Forward – Brigitte-Lefebvre Okankwu (Mavericks)

Forward – Olivia Levicki (Panthers)*

Guard – Meg Prosser (Sabres)

Guard – Demi Skinner (Tigers)

Guard – Isabella Stratford (Eagles)

Forward – Mikayla Williams (Sabres)

Forward – Oksana Gouchie-Provencher (Mavericks)

The Southern team is built for scoring in its starting five with Yaeger, Spencer and Simons a formidable scoring trio with Lefebvre-Okankwu and Levicki cleaning up from mid-range and the glass. The backup unit are some of the toughest competitors in the league in Prosser and Stratford, more scoring from Skinner and the import tandem of Williams and Gouchie-Provencher will go toe to toe on the glass with the bigs of the Northern side.

The prospect of Yaeger, Spencer and Simons skilful feeding Brigitte Lefebvre-Okanwu in the paint and running action would be a treat to watch for the Southern All-Stars

Northern All-Stars (Men) – Coached by Scott Whitmore

Guard – Nik DeSantis (Bearcats)

Guard – Jawan Stepney (Warriors)

Guard – Bijan Johnson (Lions)

Forward – Joe Jackson (Warriors)

Forward – Terry Winn (Rockets)

Guard – Nate Sheppard (Bearcats)

Guard – Brad Rathjen (Rockets)

Guard – Trey McBride (Flames)

Forward – Magok Manyang (Lions)

Forward – Ray Harding (Flames)

Impactful and athletic is how you describe the Northern lineup for the Mens with a guard trio of DeSantis, Stepney and BJ starting things off with the bigs that play bigger than their size Jackson and Winn in tandem. They don’t lose much when they go to the pine with the scoring continuing through Sheppard and Manyang, with Harding chipping in and McBride and Rathjen setting the table for their team.  

Walter “Trey” McBride would be setting the table for his Northern All-Stars off the pine in a potent ruthless lineup

Southern All-Stars (Men) – Coached by Andy Simons

Guard – Jeremy Smith (Panthers)

Guard – James Legan (Mavs)

Guard – Joel Spear (Sabres)

Forward – Daniel Johnson (Eagles)

Forward – Alex Starling (Panthers)

Guard – Adam Doyle (Eagles)

Guard – Jacob Rigoni (Sabres)

Guard – Vionte Daniels (Tigers)

Forward – Koop McCalop (Mavericks)

Forward – Lachlan Olbrich (Tigers)

The shooting stars of the league are laden in this lineup with two of the best import scorers in Smith and Legan threatening from different areas, Spear you can’t leave open either but will dominate glass at his position and DJ and Starling in tandem is mouth watering. Then you bring in Doyle and Daniels facilitating for the triple threat of Rigoni and two of the most athletic above the rim artists in McCalop and Olbrich.

We saw them teamup in the Pro 3×3, lets unite Jeremy Smith (pictured) and James Legan to really ask the question, where and whom do you guard???

Northern Rising Stars (Women) – Coached by Terry Jo-McNamara

Guard – Grace Facchini (Rockets)

Guard – Jemima Whitton (Flames)

Guard – Sarah Deng (Lions)

Forward – Abby Brenton (Bearcats)

Forward – Eliza Joynes (Warriors)

Reserve – Madelyn Curry (Lions)

Reserve – Lily Zbierski (Rockets)

An exciting lineup of talented women with a huge skill set split amongst themselves with current starters Abby Brenton and Eliza Joynes ones to watch. Facchini will lead it from the front and the talented Whitton, Deng, Curry and Zbierski at both ends of the floor balance out this side…

The Northern Rising Stars would have plenty of tall talent with Lily Zbierski coming off the pine behind Brenton and Joynes

Southern Rising Stars (Women) – Coached by Matt Clarke

Guard – Hatti Cox (Panthers)

Guard – Emily Close (Sabres)

Guard – Jess Simons (Eagles)

Forward – Olivia Bradley (Mavericks)

Forward – Maddy Freer (Eagles)

Reserve – Chloe Dumesny (Mavericks)

Reserve – Margot Hall (Tigers)

This team are DBG – designated bucket getters led by the shooting of Close and Simons. Cox will run the show and Freer and Dumesny will be hard to stop from deep, Hall provides the all-aroundness to balance out this lineup…

It’ll be close encounters of the rising kind for the Southern Rising All-Stars with a bunch of DBG’s – Designated Bucket Getters

Northern Rising Stars (Men) – Coached by Tim Odell

Guard – Sunday Bol (Lions)

Guard – Riley Harrap (Rockets)

Guard – Luca Barei (Flames)

Forward – Cameron Huefner (Flames)

Forward – Nate Deer (Lions)

Reserve – Cooper Osborne (Warriors)

Reserve – Steve Parfitt (Rockets)

Another exciting youthful lineup with plenty making a huge impact in state championships. Bol can feed Harrap and Barei for plenty of buckets and Huefner and Deer provide big targets inside. Then you have two of the leagues most exciting prospects in Osborne and Parfitt coming in for back-up…

He may have finished up his season but the “Cannon” we couldn’t miss in this Northern rising Stars lineup

Southern Rising-Stars (Men) – Coached by Scott Ninnis

Guard – Owen Raneburg (Mavericks)

Guard – Fiston Ipassou (Eagles)

Guard – Curtis Scott (Tigers)

Forward – Jarryd Hoppo (Panthers)

Forward – Hayden Meakes (Sabres)

Reserve – Declan Bell (Eagles)

Reserve – Jamie Smith (Tigers)

A lineup equally talented to their rival, Hoppo and Ipassou are the starters that drive this lineup with Scott, Raneburg ready to take the next step. Meakes is reliable and Bell and Smith have shown in limited minutes they are more than capable for backup…

The hopes of the Southern All-Stars would largely be on Jarryd Hoppo


And last of all my nominations for the three point and skills stars competition…

NBL1 Central Three-Point Shooting Stars

Womens: Keeley Pearce (39 percent for the Bearcats), Jade Johnson (41.9 for the Panthers), Maddy Freer (56.3 for the Eagles) and Sam Defrancesco (42.9 for the Rockets)

Mens: Andrew Barton (43.6 for the Panthers), Todd Davies (40.4 for the Panthers), James Legan (39.1 for the Mavericks) and James Boonstoppel (48.6 for the Warriors)

NBL1 Central Skills Stars

Womens: Jordan Hunter (Panthers), Kayla Mathews (Sabres), Jasmine Simmons (Bearcats) and Sophie Kerridge (Flames)  

Mens: Nick Wurm (Warriors), Sam Daly (Sabres), Branden Jenkins (Lions) and Anthony Spadavecchia (Bearcats)    

Well I guess its time to debate and decide your lineup and who would win with these teams

We are back to doing recaps for the NBL, Catch all the NBL1 Central action this weekend on the NBL1 website, app and game of the week.

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Ten Top SA Junior June 2022 Championship Performances

The June Long weekend takes many of our top junior talent across South Australia to the Kumon Junior Classic, the Nunawading tournament and the Mildura Tri-State in Victoria. Here’s a snap shot of the top performances including some surprise results…

Gold mining from the West: The Bearcats scored one of the gold medals for SA at the Kumon National Junior Classics in a strong showing from our state last weekend.  Picture by West Adelaide Bearcats

3-Minute Read   

Girls

West Adelaide Bearcats Under 16s

Tournament Result: 1st – Gold Medal (Kumon NJC)

The first of two teams from SA to upset the high level fancies from across the border. The Bankstown Bruins from east, Gippsland United and Casey Cavs were amongst the national favourites but they obviously missed our girls from SA in this one. The Bearcats went 3-0 through the minor rounds before their biggest win of the weekend was against the Melbourne Tigers which saw them get into an all SA affair with the Mavs. They took that one out 53-35 in a clean sweep of the weekend.

South Adelaide Panthers Under 12s

Tournament Result: 2nd – Silver Medal (Kumon NJC)

It was a dominant weekend for the two top teams of the age bracket with both Panthers and their grand final opponents the Kilsyth Cobras boasting a combined 15-0 record coming into the tournament. The Panthers rolled their way to a 5-0 record with the two giants of U12 meeting in the grand final. The Panthers went down in an absolute thriller 32-34 but came from 6 points down with two minutes to go tying the scores with 15 seconds left. The Cobras struck and it was enough for them to hang on to get the gold.

Eastern Mavericks Under 16s

Tournament Result: 2nd – Silver Medal (Kumon NJC)

In fairness to the Mavs, they had the much tougher run in their pool games playing all the favourites across their weekend so their performances despite coming up just short at the final hurdle were outstanding. They had to knock off Casey in the pool game 46-42 then play the Bruins in the semi-final where they won 56-50. It was a really impressive silver medal performance from these beasts from the east.

Eastern Mavericks U12s

Tournament Result: 3rd (Nunawading A)

Another solid performing girls outfit was from the Mavs. In Pool A they were a stones throw away from a place in the final going 4-1 and coming up three points short 26-29 to the runner-ups in Knox Raiders.

Eastern Mavericks U14s

Tournament Result: 4th (Kumon NJC)

One of the next highest finishes was the Mavs U14 Girls in a tough competition. The Mavs went 2-1 through the minors defeating Keilor Thunder and Sydney Comets then had huge wins over Sandringham Sabres and just came up short to the Melbourne Tigers in the semi-final 56-60. They finished up to Diamond Valley Eagles to claim 4th place in a stacked competition.

Boys

South Adelaide Under 12s

Tournament Result: 2nd – Silver Medal (Kumon NJC)

The Panthers from a national perspective were considered outsiders with the favourites considered to be Casey, Bulleen Boomers and the Sydney Comets. Despite a 3-0 record in Pool A, the Panthers entered the finals as underdog knocked off Bulleen 48-41 before going down to a strong Casey outfit 65-44. They fought it out pretty hard deep into the fourth quarter of that one.

North Adelaide Rockets U12s

Tournament Result: 3rd (Kumon NJC)

U12s were well represented by SA at the business end and this Rockets team were right there at the end as well. They went through their pool games 3-0 drawing a quarter final against Camberwell winning 65-60 to setup some tough games against one of the pre-tournament favourites in Casey. They went down 55-62 but not without a fight leading at one point 50-32 before the Cavs ran them down. The Rockets through a big second quarter then beat another favourite in Bulleen to claim the Bronze for SA.

Woodville Warriors U14s

Tournament Result: 4th (Kumon NJC)

One of the Warriors most successful teams of the weekend. They knocked off contender Ballarat Miners in the minor rounds to zip to 3-0 and place themselves in a very good position. The Warriors were considered a smokey for the tournament and continued to hold that belief as they knocked off the South Adelaide Panthers in an SA showdown 64-58 then lost a close one to surprise packet Whittlesea Pacers 60-53. They played off for the bronze and came up short 69-61 to Sandringham.

Central District Lions U18s

Tournament Result: 3rd (Nunawading A)

One of the best performances in the Nunawading tournament came from the Lions U18 group with a 4-1 record through the minor rounds. They ended up third just missing the finals by a loss to eventual champion Kilsyth Cobras finishing second in Pool B.

Forestville Eagles U16s

Tournament Result: 6th (Kumon NJC)

It was another strong pool of teams in the U16 boys with the Eagles going 2-1 through the minor rounds defeating Canberra and Waverley. They eventually ran into one of the favourites in Dandenong Rangers in the quarters going down 81-63 but then got a big win in the minor semi over Kilsyth 70-58. They played off for 5th and just fell short to Keilor but it was a strong performance from the gold and blue.

These are just ten highlighted performances but I think you’ll agree it was a strong showing from the SA teams in 2022 in these championships and tournaments.

Checkout all results of Kumon NJC and Nunawading here (Note no data available for Mildura Tri-State)

https://www.playhq.com/basketball-victoria/org/national-junior-classic/national-junior-classic-2022/89870d33

https://www.playhq.com/basketball-victoria/org/melbourne-east-basketball-association-meba/nunawading-spectres-queens-birthday-tournament-2022/a48d8524

Sources from Pick and Roll

https://pickandroll.com.au/p/national-junior-classic-the-top-contenders

Bay comes alive for 3×3 NBL1 Stars Showcase

The foreshore of Holdfast was buzzing Sunday as a display of fast paced, super sleek passing, monster jams and party like atmosphere drew hoopsters to Glenelg for the Pro Ball NBL 3×3 Hustle…

North Coast Basketball brought it to the Pro Ball 3x3 Hustle rolling out four of the NBL1 Central's best in a display to behold at Glenelg. Photo by Kelly Barnes/AllStar Photos

2-Minute Read   

Basketball returned to the shores of Glenelg for the first time since the inaugural 3×3 at the Bay pre-pandemic in 2017 as Adelaide hosted a 2022 Pro-Ball 3×3 Hustle Sunday showcase. Played on a court constructed just north of Moseley Square and near the Glenelg jetty, the marquee hosted a display of fast paced, super sleek passing, monster jams and party like atmosphere that drew a reasonably sized crowd showing the potential for events.

The afternoon featured 8 teams in two pools of 4 and a Womens mini-series of a best of three which was one of the highlights of the afternoon.

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