North Open Season with Strong Win against Panthers
The North Adelaide Rockets have opened the season with a 24-point win away against the South Adelaide Panthers at Marion stadium.
On the back of a 12 game losing streak, the Panthers were unable to contain the influence of 36er Pero Vasiljevic.
North started the game strongly with Brett Collins hitting a 3-pointer and quickly following up with two defensive rebounds.
South struggled to contain the Rockets particularly in the paint as big man Vasiljevic continued to grab points.
A South run of 7-0 late in the first quarter gave the supporters hope however several missed free throws left them unable to capitalize and left the Rockets with a 25-15 lead at the break.
North kicked off the second quarter with Vasiljevic still dominating in the paint at both ends of the court, with points, blocks and rebounds starting to add up.
South showed signs of improvement with debutant player Jamie MacGillivray getting steals and serving out assists to try and drag his side back into the contest.
The Panthers looked to be back in the game especially given North had been missing free throws at the other end of the court.
Unfortunately for South however three straight turnovers resulted in the Rockets having a 7-0 run in the dying minutes of the half.
The half closed with the Rockets leading the Panthers 47-33.
South came out in the second half with a point to prove as they dominated the opening minutes with possession however were unable to fully capitalize on the scoreboard.
Rockets Vasiljevic continued to dominate as he increased his range to 3-point hitting while still collecting rebounds.
The fourth minute however provided a big shake up to the game as Vasiljevic was disqualified for throwing the ball at a Panthers player’s face.
A disappointing end for the big man given he could well have gone on to record a triple double with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists already collected.
South saw the opportunity to strike and took it with Shane Boal orchestrating the offense and knocking down a 3-pointer.
The quarter ended with South scoring 24 to North’s 23 however the deficit remained substantial with the score set at 57-70, North’s way.
All the promise of the third quarter seemed to disappear for the Panthers as North went into top gear.
North’s Ryan Franceschinis, who the south fans had nicknamed socks (for his knee high socks), stepped up to lead the Rockets to their comfortable win.
Perhaps a quiet achiever all night, as Vasiljevic grabbed the spotlight; Franseschinis was dishing out assists and hitting jump shots as the Rockets exerted their dominance over the Panthers.
South, after being shell-shocked by the opening minutes of the quarter, regained some composure as Panthers star of the night Tom McKenzie marched on to claim 28 points and 5 rebounds.
In the final minutes of the fourth quarter Rocket’s player Joseph Campbell put on a show as he stole the ball from the Panthers offense and ran down the court to slam home a dunk for the crowd.
The spirited Panthers crowd couldn’t manage to cheer their team on in the end as the North Adelaide Rockets claimed a comfortable 24-point away win for the opening game of the season.
North Adelaide Rockets 100 (Ryan Franceschinis 22, Pero Vasiljevic 19, Thomas Rowe 17)
South Adelaide Panthers 76 (Thomas McKenzie 28, Jordan Robertson 15, Shane Boal 9)
By James Hetherington
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