Central Finals | Panthers set up Eagles rematch

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Jeremy Smith and Lloyd McVeigh combined for 56 points and 18 rebounds to lead the South Adelaide Panthers into an NBL1 Central second semi-final with the Forestville Eagles with the 101-89 win over the Sturt Sabres.

The two teams had been jostling over a top two position all season with Sturt ending up nabbing second spot at 15-3 to earn home court advantage at Springbank Secondary College for the qualifying final on Saturday night with the Panthers ending up third at 13-5.

The winner would move to within one win from a Grand Final appearance and it was South Adelaide narrowly leading 26-23 by the end of the first quarter on 52 per cent shooting to 33 with the physicality of Yevgen Sakhniuk working a treat with him already scoring eight points.

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The Panthers pushed out to a 13-point advantage during the second quarter but Sturt responded with a 9-0 run and by half-time South Adelaide were just clinging to the 51-47 edge.

South Adelaide again got out to a double figure lead in the third quarter and were still on top 72-65 by three quarter-time with Jeremy Smith and Lloyd McVeigh having combined for 41 of their 72 points up to that stage.

The 29 free-throw attempts for Sturt were keeping them in the contest but South Adelaide continued to have all the answers down the stretch with another 29 points to 24 in the fourth quarter to claim the 12-point win.

That now sets up a rematch of the 2024 Grand Final for South Adelaide against Forestville in next Saturday's second semi-final at the State Basketball Centre.

The Panthers finished the night shooting 55 per cent from the field to the 36 from the Sabres with Sturt staying in touch going 28/39 at the foul line to 22/30.

Sturt also collected 17 offensive rebounds to one for the game but the efficiency at the offensive end from South Adelaide saw them prevail despite those eight less shot attempts and nine fewer free throws.

Jeremy Smith delivered another 28 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in the win for the Panthers with 9/16 shooting from the floor and 10/12 at the stripe.

Lloyd McVeigh added 28 points and 11 rebounds also going 10/16 from the field and 6/8 at the free-throw line.

Jonty Smith also had 13 points, four rebounds and two blocks, Yevgen Sakhniuk 12 points and four boards despite fouling out in 16 minutes, and Rio Bruton 11 points and three assists.

Sturt do stay alive having finished second and will host the Central Districts Lions now next Saturday in the first semi-final.

Jacob Rigoni got to the foul line 17 times for Sturt and made 14 on the way to 23 points and five rebounds despite shooting 4/19 from the field and 1/7 from downtown.

DJ Vasiljevic went 5/16 with 3/9 from deep ahead of his first NBL season at the New Zealand Breakers to finish with 20 points and five rebounds.

Josh Tomasi also had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Luke Pfitzner 13 points and three boards, and Sam Daly six points, seven assists and six rebounds.

NBL1 CENTRAL 2026 SEASON | QUALIFYING FINAL

STURT SABRES 89 (Rigoni 23, Vasiljevic 20, Tomasi 16)

SOUTH ADELAIDE PANTHERS 101 (Jeremy Smith 28, McVeigh 28, Jonty Smith 13)