Central Wrap | Men's Round 1

Featured image: Melissa Belanic | @justbphotoau

It was the Manyang show with Deng and Magok starring for the Central Districts Lions to open the NBL1 Central season with win also for the Woodville Warriors, Sturt Sabres, Forestville Eagles and West Adelaide Bearcats.

>> CENTRAL SPOTLIGHT | CHAMPS OVERCOME ROCKETS IN OT

Norwood Flames (60) lost to Woodville Warriors (98)

The Woodville Warriors dominated the second half on the road to the Norwood Flames to open the season with the 98-60 victory.

The Flames started encouragingly at The ARC Campbelltown hosting the Warriors to open the season, but Woodville then took charge in the second half as they look to make up for an early finals exit in 2025.

Woodville outscored Norwood 26 points to 10 in the third quarter and 34 to 16 in the fourth on the way to the eventual 38-point victory to send an opening night message.

Awak Machar top-scored in the win for the Warriors with 24 points, nine rebounds and three assists on 9/14 shooting from the field and 3/6 from behind the arc.

Leverenzel Booth Jr added 19 points and 10 rebounds with Uzoma Dibiamaka contributing 14 points, 11 boards, six assists and two steals.

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

Sturt Sabres (96) defeated South Adelaide Panthers (93)

Lloyd McVeigh did his best to lift the South Adelaide Panthers to a season-opening win but Jacob Rigoni's 29 points were too much in the end with the Sturt Sabres winning a thriller 96-93.

It always shaped as a terrific first up contest to open the season at Springbank Secondary College and the two teams combined for 58 points in the first quarter with South Adelaide leading 32-26.

Sturt turned it around to be on top 52-46 by half-time and then with Rigoni showing the way, the Sabres had the answers down the stretch and held firm down the stretch for the three-point win at home.

Rigoni ended the night with 29 points and 10 rebounds in the win for the Sabres including going 11/16 at the foul line.

Josh Tomasi also had 21 points and 12 rebounds with Joel Spear contributing 17 points, six assists, three rebounds and three steals, and Jarryd Hoppo 15 points with 4/6 three-point shooting.

Lloyd McVeigh comes into the season on the back of his first taste of NBL action with the Cairns Taipans as a teammate to brother Jack. He started the season with the Panthers impressively with 24 points and six rebounds.

Jeremy Smith also had 23 points and seven assists, Rio Bruton 18 points and three steals, Jonty Smith 12 points and five rebounds, and Yevgen Sakhniuk nine points, seven boards, three blocks and two steals.

Eastern Mavericks (87) lost to Forestville Eagles (94)

It's been a long wait for the Forestville Eagles to begin their quest to make up for how last year finished and they made the ideal start with the first up 94-87 road win against the Eastern Mavericks.

Forestville had a star-studded line-up and lost just two games in the regular season of 2025, but then failed to reach the grand final and now they will be looking to make amends for that in 2026.

Their first up task was taking on the Mavericks at St Francis de Sales Community Sports Centre and after opening up a 13-point lead in the second quarter, they did hold out the Mavs in the finish for the eventual seven-point victory.

Daniel Johnson showed he still has plenty of fire in the tank with 25 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in the win for Forestville with another five players scoring at least nine points.

That included 16 points and four rebounds from Greg Mays with Adam Doyle contributing 15 points and four assists, Fiston Ipassou 14 points and six rebounds, Alex Starling 12 points, eight boards, four assists and four steals, and James Mackenzie nine points and three rebounds.

BJ Symons produced 25 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals on 10/14 shooting for the Mavericks with Christian Peevy adding 16 points and five boards, Curtis Scott 15 points and six assists, Dylan Marshall 12 points and five rebounds, and Harry Morris 11 points, four boards and four assists.

North Adelaide Rockets (95) lost to West Adelaide Bearcats (104)

Nik DeSantis hit a huge three to open overtime to mark his NBL1 Central return and Braelen Bridges starred on his NBL1 comeback but still it took the extra five minutes for the West Adelaide Bearcats to overcome the North Adelaide Rockets 104-95.

The Bearcats did end up opening their NBL1 Central championship defence as winners but not without receiving an almighty scare from the Rockets on Saturday night at The Lights Community and Sports Centre.

Even with West Adelaide holding a 10-point lead inside the final 10 minutes of regulation, North Adelaide showed tremendous heart to storm back and force the game to overtime with Joel Dyer and Oskar Jones hitting huge shots on their way to combine for 52 points.

But in the end, the class and experience of the Bearcats came through in overtime even with the Rockets taking great heart from their gutsy showing.

Braelen Bridges marked his second stint down under impressively for West Adelaide with 26 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks on 10/14 shooting including seven of his boards at the offensive end.

Nik DeSantis also marked his return to West Adelaide having spent the past two seasons in the NBL1 West at the Geraldton Buccaneers where he won another championship in 2025. He finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and four assists and two crucial three-pointers.

Tom Kubank has also joined the Bearcats in 2026 and had 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists with Sean Stock providing 14 points, nine boards and two assists.

Riley Real also had 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals, and the Bearcats were a monstrous +22 in his 23 minutes on court.

There was a lot to be encouraged by in the performance from North Adelaide with Joel Dyer showing the way with 29 points and six rebounds including 6/13 three-point shooting.

Oskar Jones also produced 23 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals while Adelaide 36ers development player Machar Machar had 18 points and eight rebounds on 8/12 shooting.

Southern Tigers (82) lost to Central Districts Lions (116)

Deng and Magok Manyang dominated with a combined 65 points and 24 rebounds with the Central Districts Lions dominating the Southern Tigers for the 116-82 season-opening road win.

The Lions were in control from the outset at Morphett Vale Basketball Stadium with 24 points to 13 in the first quarter on the way to the 53-29 lead by the half.

It was another 63 points to 53 in the second half for Central Districts to come away 34-point victors with the Manyang show too much for the Tigers to cope with.

Deng finished with 33 points, 14 rebounds and three assists on 14/16 shooting from the field with Magok providing 32 points, 10 boards and two steals with 4/7 three-point shooting.

Ayual Garang also had 14 points, nine rebounds and three assists, and Elijah Mackenroth 13 points on 5/5 shooting including 3/3 from deep.

Devin Fortune finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers with Che Brogan adding 18 points, seven boards, four assists and two steals, and Koop McCalop 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists.