Central Wrap | Men's Round 3

Featured Image: Sonya Connor Photography

The North Adelaide Rockets opened their NBL1 Central account with the high-scoring overtime win over the Southern Tigers while there were also pre-Easter victories for the Sturt Sabres, Eastern Mavericks, South Adelaide Panthers and Forestville Eagles.

>> CENTRAL SPOTLIGHT | FORESTVILLE SEND A GOOD FRIDAY MESSAGE

>> CENTRAL SPOTLIGHT | SMITH DELIVERS HUGE PANTHERS FIGHTBACK

>> CENTRAL WRAP | MEN'S ROUND 2

THURSDAY

Central Districts Lions (92) lost to Eastern Mavericks (114)

Curtis Scott and BJ Symons combined for 55 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists and six steals as the Eastern Mavericks made it consecutive wins beating the Central Districts Lions 114-92.

Both teams came into the match up at STARplex having split their opening two games of 2026 and by quarter-time, the Mavs were feeling good to be leading 34-26.

They had another 28 points to 19 in the second frame to be leading 62-45 by half-time before completing the 22-point win to improve to 2-1 after the opening three rounds.

Curtis Scott delivered 29 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals in the win while BJ Symons also had 26 points, seven assists, five boards and three steals for the Mavericks.

Dylan Marshall added 19 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals, and Christian Peevy 19 points on 7/8 field goal shooting.

Magok Manyang top-scored for Central Districts with 28 points and eight rebounds with Ayual Garang contributing 15 points, five boards and three assists, Deng Manyang 14 points, five rebounds and two steals, and Kalani Sapwell 11 points and five assists with 3/3 three-point shooting.

Woodville Warriors (75) lost to Sturt Sabres (81)

Jacob Rigoni delivered 27 points with five three-pointers to lead the Sturt Sabres to the 81-75 win over the Woodville Warriors to stay unbeaten in 2026.

The Sabres arrived at St Clair Recreation Centre putting their perfect record in 2026 on the line against a Woodville team also having won their first two matches of the season.

It was the Warriors then leading 26-23 by quarter-time and still holding a three-point edge at the half before eventually the Sabres produced 19 points to 11 in the fourth quarter to secure the six-point win and improve to 3-0.

Jacob Rigoni finished with 27 points, nine rebounds and three assists in the win for Sturt on shooting 5/10 from three-point range and 6/6 at the foul line.

Josh Tomasi added 12 points, 10 rebounds and two steals, Jarryd Hoppo 12 points and three assists, Luke Pfitzner 11 points, five rebounds and two steals, and Seb Griffin nine points, seven boards, six assists and three steals.

Joe Jackson top-scored for Woodville with 22 points and 10 rebounds with Nick Wurm adding 20 points, five assists, four boards and three steals, and Awak Machar 11 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots despite shooting 4/15.

North Adelaide Rockets (119) defeated Southern Tigers (111)

It was quite the high-scoring overtime spectacle with the North Rockets getting 20-plus points from four players as they overcame 80 points alone from Che Brogan, Koop McCalop and Devin Fortune to beat the Southern Tigers 119-111.

Both teams were chasing a first win of the season as well after losing their opening two games and North Adelaide came from 14 points down in the third quarter with 29 points to 19 in the fourth to get the game to overtime.

Then in the extra period it was the Rockets who kept that momentum going with 15 points to seven on the way to the eight-point win to open their account for 2026.

There were plenty of standout performers across both teams with Machar Machar producing 29 points, eight rebounds, five blocks, three assists and three steals for North Adelaide.

Oskar Jones hit the shot to get the game to overtime and ended up with 29 points, six rebounds and five assists while Joel Dyer added 26 points and four boards, Jack King 21 points, 11 rebounds and four steals, and Miller Drewett eight points, nine boards and five assists.

The Tigers might have lost but not without 31 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and two steals from Adelaide 36ers development player Che Brogan.

Devin Fortune also had 21 points, 14 rebounds and three assists, Koop McCalop 28 points and 11 rebounds, Nick Logan 12 points, 14 boards, three assists and three steals, and Manny Wugol 10 points and four rebounds.

South Adelaide Panthers (87) defeated Norwood Flames (83)

Jeremy Smith inspired the South Adelaide Panthers to a stunning come from behind 87-83 win over the Norwood Flames in what could be the last ever game at Marion Basketball Stadium.

Norwood arrived attempting to back up their last up win over the Southern Tigers while South Adelaide were still hunting a first win of 2026.

For most of the night it certainly appeared the Flames were on track for consecutive wins leading by as much as 18 points in the third quarter, but then it was Smith who took over. The Panthers turned the tide with 50 points to 32 in the second half for the four-point win.

Smith made sure it was a night to remember for South Adelaide at Marion by finishing with 25 points and six rebounds on 10/15 field goal shooting in his nearly 34 minutes of court time.

Rio Bruton continued his impressive start to the season with another 17 points on 7/12 shooting with Lloyd McVeigh adding 14 points, nine rebounds and two assists coming off his first NBL opportunity this past season alongside brother Jack at the Cairns Taipans.

Yevgen Sakhniuk added 11 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and two blocks, Jonty Smith 11 points and five boards, and Koby Moir seven points and two rebounds.

It was a tough loss to take for Norwood having been up 18 in the third quarter with Campbell Scott finishing with 36 points with 10/20 three-point shooting.

Cooper Osborne also had 16 points, seven assists and four rebounds, Tom Kurowski 12 points, five boards, four steals and two assists, and Inady Legiste eight points, eight rebounds and two steals.

GOOD FRIDAY

West Adelaide Bearcats (53) lost to Forestville Eagles (85)

The West Adelaide Bearcats ended their season on the way to the 2025 championship but the Forestville Eagles sent quite the Good Friday message against them with the dominant 85-53 victory.

With the star-studded line-up they possessed, there were times in 2025 that Forestville looked unstoppable and they were the regular season champions only to lose in a preliminary final to the Bearcats.

West Adelaide went on to claim the championship but most of that Forestville group is back in 2026 and were joined by Jordan Forbes.

After first up wins against the Eastern Mavericks and South Adelaide Panthers, they put in their most complete and dominant performance in the preliminary final rematch on Good Friday.

The Bearcats had no answers with the Eagles already leading by 13 at quarter-time and then 26 going into the half before completing the 32-point win to improve to 3-0 this season.

Greg Mays was outstanding in the win for the Eagles with 24 points and five rebounds with 10/17 shooting and being a monstrous +35 in the 26:50 he played.

Alex Starling also provided 13 points, nine rebounds, two steals and two blocks with Jordan Forbes contributing 11 points, eight boards and seven assists, Daniel Johnson 10 points and seven rebounds, and Fiston Ipassou 10 points and four boards.

The Bearcats had 19 turnovers with Isaac Atuer finishing with 12 points and two assists, Braelen Bridges 11 points and nine rebounds, and Tobias Dowdell seven points, three boards and two steals.