Central Wrap | Men's Round 4

Featured image: Melissa Belanic | @justbphotoau

Inady Legiste, Jacob Rigoni, Jarrod Molnar, Jeremy Smith, Lloyd McVeigh, Rio Bruton, Awak Machar and Nick Wurm were standouts in NBL1 Central wins for the Norwood Flames, Sturt Sabres, Southern Tigers, South Adelaide Panthers and Woodville Warriors.

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Norwood Flames (125) defeated North Adelaide Rockets (98)

The Norwood Flames emphatically got back to winning with the 125-98 home win over the North Adelaide Rockets with seven players scoring in double-digits.

The Flames lost to the South Adelaide Panthers ahead of returning home on Saturday at The ARC Campbelltown to host a Rockets team trying to avoid a third consecutive defeat.

The Flames were only leading by three at quarter-time but then turned it on with 36 points to 21 in the second term and then another 37 to 29 in the third on the way to the eventual 27-point win while shooting 52 per cent from the field with 14/36 from downtown and 19/34 at the foul line.

Norwood improves to 2-2 with the win with Inady Legiste leading the way with 23 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks with 4/5 three-point shooting but he had plenty of help.

Daniel Webber finished with 17 points and five assists, Thomas Kurowski 15 points, five boards and five assists, Cooper Osborne 15 points, nine assists and six rebounds, and Campbell Scott 12 points and 11 assists.

Mason Whittaker also had 12 points and seven rebounds, and Oscar Sabine 12 points, seven boards and three assists.

North Adelaide are now 1-3 with three straight defeats with Machar Machar providing 23 points, five rebounds and two steals, Joel Dyer 18 points and three assists, Oskar Jones 14 points and four assists, and Miller Drewett 13 points and nine rebounds.

Sturt Sabres (84) defeated Forestville Eagles (82)

Jacob Rigoni had 14 points in the third quarter to build a match-winning lead for the Sturt Sabres but they still had to survive a late scare to remain perfect and hand the Forestville Eagles a first defeat.

It was the battle of unbeaten teams from the opening three rounds of the season at Springbank Secondary College and it was a tight battle before the Sabres made their move in the third quarter.

Rigoni put up 14 of his team's 26 points with Sturt building an 11-point lead by three quarter-time that again was 16 during the fourth, but the Eagles still had a chance to firstly tie the game or win it on the last possession.

Greg Mays missed a good look at a mid-range turnaround jumper that would have taken the game to overtime. Then Adam Doyle also missed a good look at the three after an offensive rebound that would have been the winner.

That meant Sturt held on for the two-point win to improve to a perfect 4-0 record on the season with Forestville now 3-1 following a first defeat.

Jacob Rigoni came up huge in the win for Sturt with 26 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two assists with 8/15 shooting from the floor, 5/10 from downtown and 5/5 at the free-throw line.

Luke Pfitzner had 18 points to half-time and ended up with 24 on 6/10 shooting from downtown with Jamie Smith adding 10 points, four rebounds and two steals.

By half-time, Forestville guns Daniel Johnson and Greg Mays had only combined for nine points on 1/9 shooting, but both helped to give the Eagles a chance especially in the fourth quarter.

Johnson finished with 18 points, five rebounds and two steals with 8/10 foul shooting while Mays ended up with 13 points and five rebounds.

Alex Starling also had 17 points, seven rebounds and two assists for the Eagles, Jordan Forbes 12 points, eight boards, seven assists and three steals, and Adam Doyle nine points, five rebounds and three assists.

Eastern Mavericks (93) lost to Southern Tigers (96)

Jarrod Molnar hit five three-pointers including the sealer as the Southern Tigers held out the Eastern Mavericks for the 96-93 win.

The Mavericks hosted the Tigers at St Francis de Sales Community Sports Centre looking for a third straight win against a Southern team hunting a first victory of 2026.

The Mavs made the flying start to score 15 straight points in the first quarter and to lead by as much as 13 in the second term, but then the Tigers took over in the third with 30 points to 21, and had their own 11-point lead early in the fourth.

The Mavericks still fired back to make it a one possession game but it was Molnar nailing his fifth three-pointer of the game that ultimately sealed the deal on the Tigers' first win of 2026.

He made 5/10 from behind the arc on his way to 23 points with Lem Ajith adding 18 points, Che Brogan 13 points, 10 assists and six steals, Koop McCalop 13 points, 16 rebounds and two blocks, and Devin Fortune 10 points, six boards and five assists.

The Mavericks are now 2-2 with the loss with BJ Symons delivering 28 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, Curtis Scott 26 points, 11 boards and nine assists, Jackson Bowden 11 points, four rebounds and four assists, and Lachlan Hunter nine points, seven boards and five assists.

Woodville Warriors (97) defeated Central Districts Lions (83)

Nick Wurm and Awak Machar had 28 points apiece as the Woodville Warriors proved too strong for the Central Districts Lions with the 97-83 victory.

Woodville were back home at St Clair Recreation Centre trying to bounce back from their first loss of the season against the Sturt Sabres with Central Districts arriving trying to avoid a third successive defeat.

The Warriors got off the lightning start with 31 points to 18 in the first quarter and then completed the job with 27 to 19 in the fourth period for the 14-point win to improve to 3-1.

Awak Machar is proving quite the excitement machine and had another 28 points, four rebounds and three assists with 11/17 shooting while Nick Wurm delivered 28 points, 11 assists and five rebounds with 4/12 three-point shooting.

Leverenzel Booth Jr added 17 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, Bennett Sherry 16 points, nine boards, three assists and three blocks, and Riley Meldrum six points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Central Districts are now 1-3 with three successive losses with Magok Manyang delivering 29 points and 11 rebounds with 5/7 shooting from behind the three-point line.

Deng Manyang also had 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals, Kalani Sapwell 10 points and seven assists, and Riley Harrap seven points and six assists.

South Adelaide Panthers (90) defeated West Adelaide Bearcats (74)

Jeremy Smith, Rio Bruton and Lloyd McVeigh combined for 65 points, 20 rebounds and 17 assists as the South Adelaide Panthers beat the West Adelaide Bearcats 90-74.

The Panthers had lost two of their opening three matches of the season ahead of hosting the reigning champion Bearcats at Mitchell Park Sports and Community Centre who had also the same record coming into the match up.

Scores were then all square at both quarter and half-time, but South Adelaide made their move in the third frame with 22 points 17 before another 22 to 16 in the fourth on the way to the 16-point victory to improve to 2-2.

Jeremy Smith delivered 22 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, Rio Bruton 22 points, six boards and four assists with 3/6 three-point shooting, and Lloyd McVeigh 21 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.

The Bearcats are 1-3 to open their championship defence with new arrival from the NBL1 West De'Sean Parsons providing 18 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists on debut after a couple of standout seasons with the Goldfields Giants.

Braelen Bridges added 16 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals, Nik DeSantis 15 points and three assists, and Tom Kubank 13 points and three rebounds.