NBL1 – Page 34 – CROSS OVER DRIBBLE

NBL1 Central Round 7 – Headband bros duel in thriller, Lions last quarter leap ends three-year drought

Round 7 of the NBL1 Central stepped up a notch in the stakes and history with nearly two droughts broken in one weekend, young talent time on full display from a Flame as he helps his side go 2-0 across the weekend and four riveting showdowns in the South and in the West. Here’s the Round 7 wrap of the NBL1 Central 2022…

"A Legan of his own" - NBL1 superstar James Legan dominated 3 quarters of his two matches on the weekend to nearly pull off the second drought breaking victory of the weekend including dropping a massive league record of nine triples on Sunday for the Eastern Mavericks.  Picture supplied by Picture IT Sports Photography

5-Minute Read

Saturday 21/05/22

Norwood Flames vs Eastern Mavericks

Flames turn up heat defensively to blanket Mavs

The Flames grabbed an important win in their season to drag them back into the top five blanketing the Eastern Mavericks and forcing the ball into their hands 81-65 at the Firedome. The home side forced the Mavs into 31 turnovers with up court pressure and match ups which yielded a 39-34 second half. Brooke Basham particularly good in the second quarter finished with 25 points and 4 steals and Ally Wilson with 20 points and 12 rebounds. It was Sophie Kerridge that set the tone from the tip to finish with 13 points, 7 assists and 7 steals. The two Canadians were dominant for the away side with Lefebvre-Okankwu clocking 25 points and 12 rebounds Gouchie-Provencher with 24 points, 16 rebounds and 2 blocks. Olivia Bradley was a spark after a big week and posted 8 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks to keep the Mavs in the contest.

Flames fire in second half to down dogged Mavs

It took a second half timeout one minute into the half for Norwood Flames coach Tim Odell to spark a 64-30 run and engineer against a fired up Eastern Mavericks 102-78 at the Firedome. A James Legan triple immediately after the half-time break saw the away side lead 38-48 with Odell triggering that timeout immediately, Legan was playing in a “Legan of his own” with a first half of 18 points but kept to just three attempts for the remainder of the contest to finish with 21 points. The Flames forced the Mavs into 13 points from 17 turnovers in the second half as Ray Harding took over to notch 30 points and 10 rebounds while Trey McBride fired up both ends of the floor to finish with 19 points. Koop McCalop was extremely consistent keeping the Mavs scoreboard ticking over with 23 points and 18 rebounds while Tom Cromarty an important piece in this line-up returned with 12 points and 5 rebounds.

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NBL1 Central takes its call from COE

Amongst the doubleheaders of NBL1 Central Round 7; the talented COE arrive with some new names, sons and daughters of NBL, WNBL and national sports stars and some names you will know very quickly both home and abroad. Lets find out who’s taking on the Rockets, Tigers and Eagles in the first leg…

Izzy good? She sure is and she's back to take on our NBL1 teams for the COE. Photo by FIBA Basketball

NBL1 Wildcard Games

Centre of Excellence vs North Adelaide Rockets

Women – Saturday 21/05/2022 6:30pm at the Launch Pad

Men – Saturday 21/05/2022 8:15pm at the Launch Pad

Centre of Excellence vs Southern Tigers

Women – Sunday 22/05/2022 1:00pm at the Cage

Centre of Excellence vs Forestville Eagles

Men – Sunday 3:00pm at the Nest (Live on Kayo Sports Freebies)

Centre of Excellence Women

The COE Women will be led by Dallas Loughridge a point guard with the Dandenong Rangers averaging 14.5 points already after two games while a familiar face from the Eagles in Izzy Borlase coming off an incredible U20 AJC will be a tough matchup averaging 12 points, 6 rebounds and shooting 43 percent from the field. They are 1-1 after dropping to the WNBL talented 5^th placed NBL1 South Bendigo Braves led by Tess Madgen, Abby Wehrung and Kelly Wilson before defeating the 7^th placed NBL1 North Mackay Meteorettes led by the Caps Shaneice Swain but were missing Miela Goodchild to note.

Likely matchups to watch for Loughridge will be Lauren Badenoch and Morgan Yeager for our NBL1 sides. This COE team average 46 rebounds per game also through a “peach” of a daughter in Jess Petrie (Gold Coast Rollers) and another U20 AJC set of stars in centre/forwards Isla Juffermans (Coffs Harbour Suns) and Nyadiew Puoch (Dandenong Rangers). Both the Rockets and Tigers will need to secure rebounding if they are to beat this highly talented group.

Centre of Excellence Men

The COE Men will be led by U20 AJC star Rory Hawke from the Townsville Heat averaging 18 points shooting 54 percent from the field and 50 percent beyond the arc and the name everyone wants to see in person the highly talented Tyrese Proctor (12.5 points, 3 rebounds, 2.5 assists). They are two from two yet to lose having taken care of the NBL1 North 8th placed Townsville Heat featuring former Perth Wildcat import Deandre Daniels and the 4th placed Mackay Meteorites featuring a host of well known names in Kyrin Galloway, Adelaide 36ers Emmanuel Malou and Biwali Baynes all on NBL lists in 2022.

Likely matchups for Hawke are Jimma Dau and Malith Machar with their length deterring the shooting ability while Proctor is likely to face a tough assignment from Terry Winn and Brandon Brine. This team bring each other into the fold with their average of 16.5 assists and teamwork crashing the glass through towering centre Josh Ojianwuna, the son of NBL centre Mark and tennis player Nicole; Jensen Bradtke (Southern Sabres) and Bol Dengdit (Portland Pilots). Considering the Rockets and Eagles numbers and experience in this area; I think its likely they might inflict at least the first loss for the COE this wildcard season.

NBL1 Central Round 7 Preview

The COE are calling this weekend as part of the Wildcard series and after a short break, proceedings resume with some key clashes in the NBL1 Central. No time to waste with a huge lot of games to run our eye over so here is the preview of Round 7…

Their goals are different but both Samuels and Levicki will be looking to lead their respective sides to victory, in the Lions case their best chance may have arrived. Picture by Archie Creative

4-Minute Read

Saturday 21/05/2022

Norwood Flames vs Eastern Mavericks – (ARC – The Firedome)

Women (6:00pm)

The Flames are looking to climb themselves back up into the top four while the Mavs are trying to lift themselves back into the middle of the table. With a tough double header for both this weekend this looms as a must win. The Mavs have the ability to stop Wilson and Basham having had both play for them in the past. Lefebvre-Okankwu looks the game breaker here as in both of the Flames losses it’s been a dominant post player (Williams and Levicki) that have caused them the most problems. Defensively the Mavs can keep the scores low and if the sole SA Sapphire in Bradley can hit the scoreboard; they are a big chance at an upset here.

Key Stat – The Mavs in all games keep their opponents to 73.8 points or less

ESPN Prediction: Mavericks by 4 points

Men (7:45pm)

The record for Norwood is that they’ve beaten West and South in the bottom part of the table and while the Mavs are winless this looms as a huge danger game for the homes side. The former clubman James Legan returns, and Anthony Green will have his hands full with an inform Koop McCalop. Points on the scoreboard has been a problem for the Flames mainly due to rebounding; so McBride needs to grab 20+ for this team to win as Harding has been producing consistently. I think this is the game Green reminds us how good he is as he’s produced double figures back to back leading in and ready for a monster.

Key Stat – Both teams rank second last and last in rebounds per game with 34.8 and 36.6

ESPN Prediction: Flames by 7 points

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