Woodville’s men’s side endured a strong challenge from South Adelaide on Saturday night at Marion stadium, breaking away from the Panthers late in the third to come away with a 64-84 victory.

It wasn’t until Woodville switched to a zone defence late in the game that the Panthers began to struggle offensively, the match a stark contrast from the anticipated comfortable win for the second-placed Warriors until that point.

The contest proved to be a battle of the big men early. Tom McKenzie (29 points, 11 rebounds, 4 steals) had a huge influence on the game, stepping up and knocking down a 3-pointer at one end whilst pulling in numerous defensive rebounds at the other. Meanwhile for Woodville Steve Pilkington emphasised 4 early points by denying a Shane Boal drive with a spectacular block, the margin never exceeding 5 points for either side up until the half-time break.

South maintained their scoreboard pressure in the third, backcourt duo Cameron Myles and Kyle Howe-Tipene showing great aggression by attacking the basket and finishing strongly over Woodville’s big frontcourt to keep the crowd involved. Jordan Robertson (16 points, 9 rebounds) also chipped in with some nice touch from outside to keep the Panthers rolling offensively.

Meanwhile for the Warriors it was up to Darren Ng (25 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists) to keep his side’s score ticking over in the second and third, ably assisted by athletic young big man Luke Stanbridge (22 points, 12 rebounds) who repeatedly mopped up Woodville’s misses with a number of offensive put-backs.

It took a couple of quick three-pointers from Ng and another Stanbridge put-back for Woodville to eventually open up a 9-point lead and give themselves some breathing room.

Despite having thrown everything at their opposition it appeared the Panthers had run out of options by the last quarter, the deficit extended by import Aaron Wyatt (18 points) in the final stanza. The athletic forward finished a number of fast-break opportunities to put the game away as South failed to convert open looks against the zone, going 3/16 from the field in the final term to allow a 20-point margin to be the final result.  

“We were in it for the first three-quarters and then Woodville threw to a zone, which would appear we haven’t quite got figured out yet,” said Panthers big man Tom McKenzie after the game.

“All the other things we’ve got working well, the half-court offense and run-and-gun game is working really well…our long-range shooting hasn’t quite come on yet.”

“But as soon as that starts to click I think we’ll start to take down some of these top teams.”

The win keeps Woodville’s chances of finishing the season as the minor premiers alive, currently only trailing league pacesetters West Adelaide on percentage with two rounds left to play.

Click here for a post-game interview with South's Tom McKenzie on the Central ABL Podcast.

By Lachlan Sellar