South Adelaide Panthers 65 | Central Districts Lions 50

 

South Adelaide have started the 2017 Premier League season with great determination, notching a win 65-50 over Central Districts in a competitive contest.

There was a sea of new faces for both sides, especially the Panthers who were without Maddie Cunningham for the night and had lost Ieva Nagy and Tayla Corrigan over the summer.

The Lions started strongly, led by Alisha Carlin making her presence felt in the key. Both teams were playing relatively deep in defence, with the coaches encouraging more urgency as the players found that pre-season cannot prepare you for the energy needed come game time.

South fans were excited at the prospect of seeing star signing Teonna Campbell and she did not disappoint, finishing off a number of solo efforts early. Despite this, it was the controlled passing of Centrals that saw them take a 5 point lead into the first change.  

South immediately upped the tempo at the start of the second, now pressing up on the ball carrier- forcing Centrals into a shot clock violation. Whilst used sparingly, Eloise Jones had an instant impact, picking up back-to-back baskets as the Panthers took the lead with an 8-0 run.

Under the rim South was getting first use, with Teonna Campbell collecting 8 rebounds for the half as well as Haley Bunce and Danita Goodwin with 6 each.

The Lions were persevering and were able to keep the margin to just 3 at halftime, 24-21, after capitalising on getting into the bonus early in the quarter.

To start the third both sides traded three’s, in a tense few minutes. Danita Goodwin was driving hard into the arc, whilst her opposite number Jessica Puvogel made much of the running for the Lions.

South picked up some important stops, transitioning better defence into an 8 point lead midway through the term.

Centrals were not giving up, aided by strong efforts from Rhianna Stringer (13 rebounds) and Georgia Madigan (9 rebounds) on boards but were finding Teonna Campbell hard to contain as she weaved through traffic to give South a 9 point advantage at the last break.

 

South’s Coach Chas McCormick continued his vocal encouragement, urging his side to use their momentum to finish off the last quarter well.

The Panthers were able to quell any Centrals resistance, pushing the lead out past 20 in an 11-1 run to start the last. Teonna Campbell picked off a number of tired Lions passes (7 steals for the match), hitting a three in the final minute to cap off a good Panthers debut.

Centrals did push back in the last few minutes, with Carlin’s (18 pts, 6 rebounds) persistent efforts showing good leadership to her younger teammates as she finished off a nice 3 point play. She was clearly best for the Lions, aided well Rhianna Stringer (13 rebounds, 6 points) who grew as the match wore on. 

South can take much heart out of the gritty win, hoping to put a difficult 2016 behind them. Whilst Teonna Campbell (22 pts, 12 rebounds, 5 assists) was a standout, South should be cautious not to over-rely on her and use the attention she gets to allow others to free up their games.

Danita Goodwin (15 rebounds, 9 pts) was also excellent with a near double-double and Haley Bunce (12 pts, 7 rebounds) worked tirelessly at both ends of the court. 

 

Round 2 Saturday 8^th April, 6:30 pm:

Central Districts Lions v Eastern Mavericks @ Starplex

Southern Tigers v South Adelaide Panthers @ Morphett Vale