CABL Round 16

WOMEN: Panthers Show Strong Form

The South Adelaide Panthers women had to work for it, but their 12th win of the season came Saturday night against the Eastern Mavericks on home court, prevailing by 29 points.

Despite the score at 21-14, it was difficult to split the two teams at quarter time. The Panthers’ Janae Howard hit the board early with 8 points in the first term, as her side built themselves a small lead. The Mavericks seemed threatening at stages in the second quarter, but turnovers cost them. It was a good quarter for Panthers’ team skipper, Jess Mahony, as she registered 11 first half points. Emma Hooley was the go-to girl for the Mavericks, as she marked down 12 first half points as Eastern trailed by 6 at the major break.

The second half opened up a lot more as the Panthers pounced on their opportunity, taking the front by 16 at the end of the third. Ieva Nagy, alongside Mahony and Howard, put the Panthers into top gear, stretching their lead out to 26 points in the last quarter. The final play of the game seemed ambitious, but a couple of big passes up the court to Nagy allowed her to sink a terrific buzzer-beating three to finish the match, lifting the fans to their feet, as the home side won by 29 points.

Howard and Mahony both finished with 22 points each, while Hooley starred for the Mavericks with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Mahony also finished with 10 assists and 9 rebounds, as well as an outstanding 93% free throw shooting percentage on the night, sinking 14/15 at the line!

As South Adelaide currently sit comfortably in fourth, a heavyweight clash against North Adelaide next week will decide whether the Panthers can steal the Rockets’ third position on the ladder. Both South and North are 12-4 this season.

MEN: Mavs Men Stun Panthers
     

The Eastern Mavericks surprised the crowd as they notched up their third win of the season against the South Adelaide Panthers at Marion Stadium on Saturday.

The Mavericks made an early burst in the first quarter and continued it throughout, forcing a double digit margin at the first break, leading 26-13. Curtis Scipio for the Mavericks knocked down two important 3-pointers in the quarter to help produce the advantage.

Eastern maintained that lead, stretching it out as far as 18 points at one stage, to head into half time with a 15-point buffer. Dylan Shorne had registered 12 points at half time with a fantastic run of shooting in the second quarter.

However it didn’t take much more than a blast from the coach at the long break to get the Panthers back in the game. South responded with fight, as they closed the gap in no time. An 8-2 run in the opening two minutes of the third quarter shook the visitors as the tables turned quickly. Shane Boal and Jordan Robertson combined to add 19 points between them for the quarter, as South shaved the margin to 2 points, before briefly taking the lead by 1 point. At the three quarter time break, the scores were level at 62-62.

But a spirited Mavs outfit hadn’t lost their composure, as the underdogs ran away with the game with an 11-2 run in the last quarter. Whatever fight the Panthers put forward, the Mavericks would match, as they wrapped the game up 73-87 at the final buzzer.

Scipio and Shorne both finished the game with 20 points, while Thomas Giles had a strong fourth quarter to end with 12 points and 9 rebounds. Top scorer for South Adelaide was Robertson with 19 points, plus Boal doubled up with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the night.