Central Wrap | Men's Round 15

Featured image: Dan Cowley | @imagesby_dan

DJ Vasiljevic, Jeremy Smith, Rio Bruton, Daniel Johnson, Jordan Forbes, Greg Mays, Koen Sapwell and LJ Booth Jr all fired ahead of NBL1 Central finals for Sturt Sabres, South Adelaide Panthers, Forestville Eagles, Central Districts Lions and Woodville Warriors.

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Southern Tigers (106) lost to Woodville Warriors (108)

A home final spot was on the line for the Woodville Warriors and they got what they needed but only after quite the entertaining and high scoring affair to beat the Southern Tigers 108-106 with LJ Booth Jr delivering 29 points and 10 rebounds.

The Tigers might have came into the last game of the season at Morphett Vale Basketball Stadium having lost their past 10 matches, but they were determined to end on a high with Woodville playing with a home elimination final at stake.

Southern started on fire with 31 points to 17 in the first quarter before opening up a 22-point lead in the second period and still leading 51-45 by half-time.

Woodville then fired back in the second half starting with 29 points to 18 in the third quarter, and then despite the Tigers putting up 37 in the fourth quarter, the Warriors did enough to secure the two-point win.

The victory sees Woodville finish at 10-8 and in fourth spot to set up a home elimination final with the Central Districts Lions with LJ Booth Jr producing 29 points, 10 rebounds and two assists on a percent 12/12 shooting.

Bennett Sherry also had 23 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, Nick Wurm 20 points and six assists, Joe Jackson 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, Uzo Dibiamaka 13 points and four boards, and Awak Machar eight points, five rebounds and three assists.

The Tigers end the season with 11 straight defeats at 2-16 with Nick Logan delivering 28 points and two assists with 8/12 shooting from the outside.

Devin Fortune added 25 points, 10 rebound and three assists, Nicko Timonera 15 points and 10 assists, and Brandon Gillespie 12 points, five rebounds and two steals.

Sturt Sabres (94) defeated West Adelaide Bearcats (85)

The Sturt Sabres took charge in the first half to ensure they enter the finals in winning form with the 94-85 home victory against the defending champion West Adelaide Bearcats.

The Sabres were locked into second spot no matter the result when they hosted the Bearcats at Springbank Secondary College.

It was the last game as defending champions for West Adelaide but it was Sturt leading 21-18 at quarter-time and then opening up a 15-point lead in the second frame and going into half-time on top 45-36.

Sturt maintained a double figure advantage through the second half on the way to the nine-point win to end the regular season at 15-3 in second place ahead of hosting the qualifying final against the South Adelaide Panthers on Saturday night.

DJ Vasiljevic delivered 24 points and nine rebounds for the Sabres with Jacob Rigoni adding 17 points and seven boards, and Josh Tomasi 14 points and seven rebounds.

Hayden Meakes also had 11 points and three rebounds on 3/5 shooting from the outside with Luke Pfitzer adding 10 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

The championship defence that never got going for West Adelaide ends at 6-12 with Akok Machar top scoring with 22 points to go with three rebounds and two steals.

Nik DeSantis added 21 points, six rebounds and two assists, Nick Marshall 15 points, nine boards, five assists and three steals, Braelen Bridges 13 points and four rebounds, and Sean Stock nine points and seven boards.

Eastern Mavericks (82) lost to South Adelaide Panthers (101)

The South Adelaide Panthers outscored the Eastern Mavericks 54 points to 34 after half-time to secure the 101-82 win with Jeremy Smith and Rio Bruton combining for 49 points, 11 rebound and 11 assists.

South Adelaide were already locked into a third place finish coming into the match up with the out of contention Mavericks at St Francis de Sales Community Sports Centre to wrap up the regular season.

The Panthers started well with 22 points to 16 in the first quarter before the Mavs produced 32 points in the second frame to go into half-time with the slender 48-47 advantage.

South Adelaide turned the tide back their way in the second half with 26 points to 15 in the third quarter and 28 to 19 in the fourth on the way to the eventual 19-point victory.

The result sees the Panthers finish the regular season in third place at 13-5 ahead of taking on the Sturt Sabres in a qualifying final this Saturday night.

Rio Bruton knocked down 4/10 from three-point territory in the win for South Adelaide for 25 points and three rebounds, with Jeremy Smith adding 24 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.

Lloyd McVeigh also had 19 points and three rebounds, Jonty Smith 17 points and three boards, and Yevgen Sakniuk 10 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists.

The season is now over for the Mavericks with them finishing 6-12 with Owen Raneberg finishing with 18 points and three rebounds with 6/8 shooting from the outside.

BJ Symons added 18 points and eight rebounds, Curtis Scott 15 points, six assists and three boards, and Christian Peevy 13 points, three steals and two assists.

Forestville Eagles (102) defeated North Adelaide Rockets (90)

The Forestville Eagles will enter the finals having finished a game clear on top with six straight wins after beating the North Adelaide Rockets 102-90 with Greg Mays, Daniel Johnson and Jordan Forbes all playing starring roles.

The Eagles already had locked away the regular season championship coming into the final night match up at the State Basketball Centre against the out of contention Rockets.

Forestville still started impressively with 32 points to 23 in the first quarter before still leading 56-47 by half-time and then putting up another 30 points to 18 in the third frame.

That saw the Eagles leading by as much as 21 points and despite the 25 points in the last quarter from the Rockets, Forestville still won by 12 to finish the regular season on top at 16-2.

Greg Mays put up 27 points, seven rebounds and three assists on 12/18 field goal shooting with Daniel Johnson adding 24 points, seven assists, six boards and two blocks, and Jordan Forbes 17 points, 13 assists and four rebounds with 3/4 shooting from the outside.

Adam Doyle also had nine points, six rebounds and six assists, Alex Starling eight points, eight boards, four assists and three steals, and Fiston Ipassou eight points and three rebounds.

North Adelaide finishes the season losing their last three matches at 5-13 with Joey Dyer delivering 26 points, seven assists and three rebounds with 6/14 shooting from the outside.

Jack King also had 20 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals, Jok Bulabek 18 points, eight boards and two steals, and Sam Hughes 12 points, two assists and two steals.

Central Districts Lions (110) defeated Norwood Flames (100)

Koen Sapwell put up 43 points and the Central Districts Lions will look to ride that momentum into another finals appearance after ending the regular season beating the Norwood Flames 110-100.

Centrals had locked away a finals berth already by winning their past two games to close the door on Norwood coming into Saturday night's match up at STARplex to close the regular season.

The Flames might not have been in contention anymore but still wanted to finish on a high and Thomas Kurowski gave them a sniff with 16 first half points, but Sapwell had 26 up the other end for the Lions.

Centrals would eventually convert that into the 10-point victory to finish the regular season at 10-8 in fifth position as they now look to make another playoff run after reaching last year's Grand Final before losing ultimately to the West Adelaide Bearcats.

Norwood end their season at 7-11 to miss the finals for a fourth consecutive season in the NBL1 Central.

Central Districts now enter the finals with three straight wins with Koen Sapwell on fire ending up with the 43 points, three steals, two rebounds and two assists with shooting 15/23 from the field, 4/9 from the outside and 9/10 at the foul line.

Spencer Gaze also produced 27 points and three rebounds with 5/8 three-point shooting, Magok Manyang 18 points, 10 boards and two assists, and Kalani Sapwell 10 assists to go with two points, two rebounds and two steals.

Norwood finish a rollercoaster ride of a season with a 7-11 record with Thomas Kurowski again the standout with 29 points, six steals, five rebounds and five assists.

Inady Legiste also finished with 17 points and six rebounds, Oscar Sabine 16 points, four boards and two assists, Cooper Osborne 13 points and four rebounds, and Aydan Janssan eight points, five boards and five assists.