Central Wrap | Men's Anzac Round

Featured image: Melissa Belanic | @justbphotoau

Jeremy Smith had two monster performances in Anzac Round NBL1 Central wins for the South Adelaide Panthers while there were also double victories for the Sturt Sabres and Woodville Warriors with Greg Mays shining for Forestville Eagles.

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FRIDAY

Sturt Sabres (86) defeated Southern Tigers (84)

The Sturt Sabres came from behind at three quarter-time to keep their undefeated season going with the 86-84 Friday night win over the Southern Tigers.

The Sabres were back home at Springbank Secondary College attempting to stay undefeated against a Tigers team looking for just a second win of 2026.

The Sabres did build a 10-point lead by the end of the first quarter before that got out to 11 in the second but the Tigers then fired back and were just down by seven at half-time.

The Tigers then kept that momentum going completing a 14-0 run in the third period to open up an 11-point lead and to be up 12 early in the fourth.

Sturt's unbeaten run was in serious jeopardy but they took charge from there and ended up outscoring the Tigers 26 points to 15 in the final term to score the eventual two-point win.

The Sabres stayed undefeated with Josh Tomasi finishing with 19 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots.

Luke Pfitzner also had 15 points, six assists and five rebounds, Jacob Rigoni 14 points, 11 boards and three assists, Joel Spear 12 points, nine assists and six rebounds, and Jarryd Hoppo 10 points, four boards and two assists.

The Tigers are now 1-5 with Koop McCalop having finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds with Devin Fortune adding 14 points and 10 boards, Lem Ajith 16 points and three rebounds, and Jarrod Molnar 14 points.

Nick Logan also ended up with nine points and four rebounds, and Che Brogan five points, 13 assists and eight boards.

West Adelaide Bearcats (73) defeated Norwood Flames (72)

The West Adelaide Bearcats had to come from behind in the final minute with clutch free throws from Braelen Bridges and Nik DeSantis getting them home 73-72 in a Friday night thriller over the Norwood Flames.

The Flames arrived at Port Adelaide Recreation Centre having won two straight while West Adelaide were trying to get their championship defence back on track.

Norwood made a flying start to race out to an 11-point lead but that was back to just 22-19 at quarter-time and then West Adelaide worked on top with 22 to 16 in the second frame to be up 41-38 at half-time.

The Bearcats were then up eight in the third quarter and still by six in the fourth, but Norwood worked back on top to be leading 72-70 with 45 seconds to play after a pair of free throws from Oscar Sabine.

West Adelaide would do the only scoring the rest of the way and that started Bridges going 1/2 at the foul line and then DeSantis made 2/2 for him to enjoy a first home win since returning to the Bearcats after spending the past two seasons in the NBL1 West at the Geraldton Buccaneers.

Bridges ended up with 18 points, 10 rebounds and two assists while De'Sean Parsons threatened a triple double in his first home game for the Bearcats with 16 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and two steals.

Sean Stock added 18 points and six steals with 4/9 three-point shooting, Tom Kubank 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals with DeSantis finishing with five points, four boards and four assists.

Campbell Scott delivered 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Norwood with Mason Whittaker adding 15 points and 10 boards, Inady Legiste 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists, and Thomas Kurowski 10 points, four boards, three assists and two steals.

ANZAC DAY

Norwood Flames (77) lost to Forestville Eagles (90)

There was plenty of feeling in the Anzac Day clash and eventually Thomas Kurowski got under Daniel Johnson's skin enough to get the NBL great ejected but it didn’t stop the Forestville Eagles beating the Norwood Flames 90-77.

The Flames were back home at The ARC attempting to bounce back from their one-point loss to the West Adelaide Bearcats the night before but it was always going to be a big test against Forestville.

Norwood did start strongly with a 14-7 beginning, but Forestville soon got on top and their 31 points in the third quarter set them on the way to the win despite some late drama.

There was a battle for a rebound under the Forestville basket with Johnson taking out his frustrations on Kurowski giving him a forearm shove from behind and then standing over the Flames import which meant the star veteran and man who has his No. 21 retired by the Adelaide 36ers took an early shower with just over three minutes to play.

The margin was just 12 at that point and Norwood were making a charge but Forestville still had the answers to win by 13 and improve to 6-1 on the season with 30 free-throw attempts to 16 in the game while pulling down 15 offensive rebounds to 11, and forcing the Flames into 19 turnovers.

Greg Mays was the star of the win for the Eagles with 33 points and 13 rebounds on 14/17 shooting from the field with six of his boards at the offensive end.

Jordan Forbes added 22 points, eight assists, three rebounds and three steals, Alex Starling 11 points, six boards and three assists, and Fiston Ipassou five points, seven rebounds and two assists.

Adam Doyle won the Anzac Medal and finished with five assists, three points, three rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

The Flames might now sit on a 3-4 record, but there's plenty to like about their team with Thomas Kurowski playing full of passion and fire once more for 25 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals.

Daniel Webber added 17 points, six rebounds and two steals, Campbell Scott eight points, seven assists and five boards, Oscar Sabine eight points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals, and Cooper Osborne eight points and five assists.

Eastern Mavericks (69) lost to Sturt Sabres (104)

The Sturt Sabres continued their unbeaten run with a dominant 104-69 Anzac Day win against the Eastern Mavericks.

The Mavs were back home at St Francis de Sales Community Sports Centre looking to avoid a third straight defeat but it was always going to be a big challenge against the unbeaten Sabres.

It didn’t take long for Sturt to take control either with 34 points to 17 in the first quarter before another 23 to 15 in the second to go into half-time leading 57-32.

The Sabres went on with the job from there with 22 points to 19 in the third frame and 25 to 17 in the fourth on the way to the eventual 36-point victory to improve to 7-0 on the season with the double win weekend.

Jacob Rigoni tops-scored for Sturt with 19 points, five assists and four rebounds with Josh Tomasi delivering 15 points, nine boards and two assists, and Luke Pfitzner 15 points, four steals and three rebounds.

Jamie Smith also had 12 points, three rebounds and two blocks, Jackson Tucker 12 points, three assists and two boards, and Seb Griffin eight points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals.

The Mavericks are now 2-4 with a third consecutive defeat with Nick Hittle top-scoring with 22 points and five rebounds with 6/10 three-point shooting.

BJ Symons added 15 points and 11 rebounds, Curtis Scott 10 points five assists and four boards, Noah D'Arcy nine points and five rebounds, and Jackson Bowden eight points, four boards, three assists and two steals.

Central Districts Lions (77) lost to South Adelaide Panthers (89)

The South Adelaide Panthers made it four straight wins with the 89-77 road win on Anzac Day against the Central Districts Lions.

Centrals were back home at STARplex looking for a bounce back win up against a South Adelaide team having won three in-a-row, and it was the Panthers starting the better with 27 points to 19 in the first period.

That lead got out to 13 in the second quarter for the Panthers before they were still in control 57-48 by half-time.

It was another 20 points to 13 in the third frame from South Adelaide with the lead growing to 17 and they would complete the 12-point victory to make four straight and improve to a 4-2 record.

South Adelaide went super short with just six players hitting the floor and with Jeremy Smith and Yevgen Sakhniuk playing all 40 minutes, and Lloyd McVeigh and Rio Bruton 36-plus.

It paid off with Smith ending up with 29 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals, McVeigh 23 points, five rebounds and four assists, Bruton 20 points, four boards, three steals, two blocks and two assists, and Sakhniuk 16 points, 18 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

Centrals are now 2-5 on the season with Koen Sapwell finishing with 24 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals, Magok Manyang 18 points and 11 boards, and Jayden Seymour 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Southern Tigers (100) defeated West Adelaide Bearcats (83)

The Southern Tigers bounce back from a heart stopping loss on Friday to beat the West Adelaide Bearcats 100-83 at home on Anzac Day.

Both teams were part of Friday night thrillers with the Bearcats beating the Norwood Flames by a point and the Tigers going down to the Sturt Sabres by two.

That set the stage nicely for their Anzac Day match up at Morphett Vale Basketball Stadium with them combining for 60 points in the first quarter and the Tigers leading 33-27 by quarter-time.

West Adelaide then outscored them 24 to 21 in the second frame and by half-time it was the Tigers juts clinging to the 54-51 advantage.

The Tigers took back control throughout the second half with 46 points to 32 on the way to completing the 17-point victory and improve their season to 2-5.

Koop McCalop delivered 22 points, eight rebounds and four assists in the win with Che Brogan adding 10 points, 10 assists and seven boards, and Jarrod Molnar 18 points, three rebounds and two assists.

Devin Fortune also had 12 points, seven rebounds and two assists, and Lem Ajith nine points and three steals.

The Bearcats are now 2-5 as well in their championship defence with Nik DeSantis finishing with 18 points and four rebounds, Braelen Bridges 17 points and three boards, Tom Kubank 11 points, five rebounds and four assists, and De'Sean Parsons seven points, nine boards, five assists and two steals.

North Adelaide Rockets (76) lost to Woodville Warriors (92)

The Woodville Warriors started their weekend double on Anzac Day with the 92-76 road win against the North Adelaide Rockets.

The Warriors arrived at The Lights looking to bounce back from a loss to the Forestville Eagles with North Adelaide attempting to snap a two-game losing run.

Woodville opened up a nine-point lead early but that was back to just three at quarter-time and that is where the margin remained by half-time.

The Warriors then took over in the third quarter with 27 points to 20, and added 27 to 21 in the fourth to complete the 16-point victory to improve to 4-2 on the season.

Awak Machar delivered 27 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals for Woodville with Nick Wurm adding 18 points, seven boards and three assists, and Uzoma Dibiamaka 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Joe Jackson also had 13 points, 17 rebounds and eight assists, and Leverenzel Booth Jr nine points and nine boards.

North Adelaide are now 1-5 with three straight losses with Burke Smith having a huge performance made up of 21 points and 19 rebounds including seven of those at the offensive end.

Machar Machar added 14 points, five rebounds and four steals, Oskar Jones 14 points, five boards, four assists and two steals, and Joel Dyer 11 points with 3/6 three-point shooting.

SUNDAY

Woodville Warriors (96) defeated Eastern Mavericks (69)

Uzoma Dibiamaka put up 27 points in the first half and the Woodville Warriors romped to the 96-69 home win over the Eastern Mavericks to make it a double win Anzac Day weekend.

The Warriors were back home at St Clair Recreation Centre on the back of beating the North Adelaide Rockets on Anzac Day with the Mavs arriving trying to respond to a 36-point loss at home to the Sturt Sabres.

Dibiamaka caught fire hitting all six three-point attempts in the first half on his way to 27 points with 11 in the first quarter and 16 in the second to set the Warriors on their way to the big win.

Woodville were leading by nine at quarter-time, 20 at half-time and 27 at three quarter-time before completing the 27-point win to make it two victories for the weekend to improve to 5-2 with the Mavericks losing twice to now be 2-5.

Dibiamaka set the win up for the Warriors in the first half with 27 of his 33 points for the game before he finished up shooting 11/15 from the field and 7/8 from behind the arc along with having five rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

Nick Wurm added 25 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals with 4/5 shooting from behind the arc while Joe Jackson delivered 10 points, nine boards and five assists.

Awak Machar also had nine points, three rebounds and two assists, Leverenzel Booth Jr eight points, five boards, three assists, three steals and two blocks, and Jack Bakewell seven points, five rebounds and two assists.

Curtis Scott finished with 19 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals for the Mavericks with Mack Schaftenaar adding 18 points and two boards, Jackson Bowden nine points, five assists and four rebounds, and Harry D'Arcy eight points.

South Adelaide Panthers (112) defeated North Adelaide Rockets (90)

The South Adelaide Panthers continued their winning ways on Sunday with the 112-90 home win over the North Adelaide Rockets to make it five straight.

The Panthers were back home at Mitchell Park Sports and Community Centre having made it four in-a-row on Anzac Day with the win over the Central Districts Lions while North Adelaide went down at home to the Woodville Warriors.

North Adelaide built an early 10-point lead and were still up three by quarter-time before the Panthers took control in the second term with 34 points to 26 to go into half-time leading 56-51.

South Adelaie then dominated with 32 points to 16 in the final stanza on the way to the 22-point win to improve to a 5-2 record with five consecutive wins.

Jeremy Smith delivered another 30 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds with Lloyd McVeigh adding 29 points, six rebounds and two assists, and Rio Bruton 18 points, eight boards, four assists and three blocked shots.

Yevgen Sakhniuk added 16 points, six blocks, five rebounds and five assists, and Koby Moir 11 points, five boards and three assists.

The Rockets are now 1-6 having lost the past four with Joel Dyer top-scoring with 20 points and two steals with Kaden Archie adding 19 points, six rebounds and two assists.

Sam Hughes contributed 16 points with Burke Smith adding 12 points, 13 rebound, three blocks and two assists, Machar Machar 12 points, and Miller Drewett 11 points, nine rebound and two steals.