The North Adelaide Rockets ended a 15-year drought in the Mens as they stunned in the finals series and in the NBL1 Central Mens Champiosnhip decider with an incredible fairy-tale finish 72-87 over the Norwood Flames at the St Clair Recreation Centre. Sunday Dech (196-G-94, college: Barry) set the Rockets going with a couple of big buckets early with a triple then putback two with the Rockets opening a 2-11 run with CJ "Turnage-nator" Turnage guard closely by Dech; Tobias Dowdell (201-F-90, college: ABU) off to an incredible start with 5 points of his own. Anthony Green hit back for the Flames with a thunderous two-handed slam but Tobias Dowdell then added another two with Jack McVeigh dropping his first bomb of the night to make it 6-16 and timeout to Mike Malat and the Flames. Green flushed another one down before Jimma Dau hit back for the Rockets with a triple followed by former Rocker Ray Harding at the other end with a triple along with Turnage. Verle "The Red Tornado" Williams found Tobias Dowdell with the no-look pass and Tobias flushed it down one handed for an explosive opener 16-25 after one. Matt Lycett the last Woollacott Medallist to win a championship for his team between these two started the sceond by ligthing up an early three then another as part of a quick 8-0 run and that sparked a quick timeout from Dean Nyberg and the Rockets. Tobias Dowdell drained another triple then back-to-back makes to clearly put in his best first half of the season before McVeigh then put two in a row in of his own. Tobias Dowdell continued a quite unbelievable first half pushing the Rockets on an 0-8 run to give the Rockets a 32-43 lead at the half. Tobias Dowdell with a season high 20 points to half time in a Captian's perfromance for the ages. Lycett dropped a triple to open the third as both teams traded baskets. Dech then swatted Flames guard Jordan Wilson away from the hoop as both teams struggled to breakaway from where they were at the half. Green then ignited the Flames with a put back two-handed dunk then another o-board for another two. McVeigh's shot was blocked by Green again as his momentumn led the Flames back into the game. Dech and Williams steadied the ship for the red and white as they led by eleven with one quarter to go 52-63. Turnage started off the last quarter with the offensive putback, McVeigh floated one in before Dech picked Wilson's pocket then found McVeigh for a trailing three as he turned to the Rocket faithful beating his chest and timeout landed with the Flames. Harding then picked up his fifth foul and grabbed an early shower for the night and Dech continued to crank up all the numbers in all categories. Lycett drained one from the corner to cut it to 62-77 then Dech peeled off his second triple for the night but that was bookended quickly by triples from Turnage and Lycett to leave it 68-80 and a ray of hope for the Flames. Another Turnage triple cut it to under double digits but McVeigh porduced the play finishing and flexing on his and1. Tobias Dowdell then finished off the Flames with a dunk and a standing ovation as he took his place on the bench. Both benches were cleared in the final 30 seconds and the North Adelaide Rockets had taken it home 72-87. Grand Final MVP Sunday Dech was elite throughout the entire match finishing with a near triple double of 15 points, 13 assists, 9 rebounds and 6 steals however his team-mate and captain of the Rockets Tobias Dodwell setup the game in the first half to finish with 27 points and 10 rebounds. 'We talked about the fact this club hasn't had a championship for quite some time in Mens, I'm just so proud of the guys for sticking at it and believing that we could get it done. It started from our defence, and we are a defensive team. Our Captain Tobias led the way from the front and I'm so happy for him he (Tobias Dowdell) was able to produce tonight,' Dech shared. Coach Dean Nyberg was confident his team would be able to deliver if they could make it into the final five despite being 1-6 during the season and that's exactly what they did; deliver a third championship for the head coach. 'They are all special for different reasons and we wanted to break the drought here at North I love these guys and love the club. All year we spoke about trusting the process and making sure we are getting better as a basketball team and obviously we knew we had guys coming in late and we got better as the season went along and stuck together. Tobias does our dirty work week in and out and sometimes it translates to points like tonight and other times it doesn't; I'm just so happy for the guys,' Nyberg summed up the game. Jack McVeigh emerged in the second half with 21 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists to be one of the other lead contributors after being nuliffied early. Woollacott Medallist CJ Turnage led the Flames with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists and Matt Lycett with 18 points and 7 rebounds. Turnage getting a real taste for an NBL class defender in Dech and although disappointed, could not do any less than commend the Rockets for the way they went about it. 'They got us out of our sets fairly easily, Sunday did a great job of pressuring me in the full-court, that's going to help me workout how to get to the next level and our team. We got some stops and got out on transition in the second half of the third quarter, we just got back to that style too late for us but kudos to them for the way they played,' Turnage praised his opposition. Coach Mike Malat also despite the loss was nothing but full of praise for the opposition of the Rockets and rued not being able to get rolling at different times in the game. 'They were very physical and played good defence, controlled the pace and got us scrambling and on our heels a bit. We tried to get out of the balls screens and move the ball more, get more paint touches some outside threes more, it did work in getting us back in but we had to shoot a high clip and in the end we couldn't sustain that enough.' The Rockets championship is their first since 2007 and their sixth in their Men's history and their fairy-tale finish from 1-6 to fifth, surviving elimination in overtime will remain one of the more remarkable seasons in SA basketball history. Courtesy of: nbl1.com.au
Australiabasket.com All-Australian NBL1 Central Awards 2021 - Sep 15, 2021
Grand Final MVP: Sunday Dech (196-G-94) of N.Adelaide R. Player of the Year: C.J. Turnage (201-F/G-95) of Norwood F. Youth Player of the Year: Michael Harris of Forestville E. Defensive Player of the Year: Cameron Coleman (198-SF-92) of Southern T. Coach of the Year: Paul Rigoni of Sturt S.
Mackay Meteors are NBL1 North champions - Sep 12, 2021
Mackay Meteors are NBL1 North champions after an 86-83 overtime victory over Cairns Marlins at Mackay Basketball Stadium on Saturday night. The Meteors came back from an 11-point deficit (58-69 with 5.11 remaining in the final quarter) to force overtime. The 19-8 run to close out regulation time included five three-pointers for the home side. Mackay guard Jerron Jamerson (193-G/F, college: Goshen), who was named the Grand Final Series most valuable player, scored six of his game-high 24 points in the overtime period, which the Meteors won 9-6. Jamerson also added 10 rebounds and six assists to help lead the home side to the inaugural title. The Meteors, who hit 12 of 39 three-point attempts (30.77%) in the game, got hot in the final quarter with 6 of 10 (60%) made from deep. Mackay's Viliami Foketi (193-F/G-96) (20 points), Emmanuel Malou (206-C-93, college: Iowa St., agency: BIG) (17 points), Christopher Cedar (10 points) and Kye Medhurst (10 points, 10 rebounds) were all major contributors. Cairns also had five players in double figures including a team-high 20 points from Marlins guard Deba George (183-PG-85) and a double-double from forward Anthony Fisher (187-G-94) (18 points, 14 rebounds). Alexander Loughton (206-F/C-83, college: ODU) (15 points), James Mitchell (194-G/F-91) (12 points), and Curt Ahwag (12 points) were the other major contributors for the Marlins. Courtesy of: nbl1.com.au
Australiabasket.com All-Australian NBL1 North Awards 2021 - Sep 15, 2021
Finals MVP: Jerron Jamerson (193-G/F) of Mackay M. Player of the Year: Jeremy Kendle (186-G-88) of Logan T. Youth Player of the Year: Nicholas Stoddart (00) of Brisbane C. Defensive Player of the Year: Matt Hodgson (211-C-91) of Ipswich F. Coach of the Year: Luke Cann of Logan T.
Australiabasket.com All-Australian NBL1 North 1st Team 2021
Perry Lakes Hawks defeat Rockingham Flames to win NBL1 West championship - Sep 4, 2021
The more things change the more they stay the same. The most successful men's SBL team has won the inaugural NBL1 West championship after beating Rockingham 92-82 at the Bendat Basketball Centre. Andrew Ferguson (213-C-98, college: CS Monterey) starred with 18 points and 15 rebounds to cap off a season where he finished runner up in the league MVP award with a grand final MVP award. Having finished the season on top of the ladder, Ferguson said the team had been desperate to add to the club's outstanding championship legacy. 'Winning the first NBL1 West one is huge for us,' he said. 'It's not something we harped on about all year but it was our goal. We look at guys who won championships in the past and want to be like them. 'Even having veterans in our team who have experienced success makes us want to do it too. They keep driving the standard and that builds the culture even more. 'It was such a tough game. It was so back and forth. I'm so relieved we pulled it out.' The grand final had massive swings. Perry Lakes led by one point as the clock ticked down to three quarter time but a Matthew Leary (190-G-00, college: Knox) buzzer beater made it a four point game and a subsequent technical foul and free throw increased that to five points. But Rockingham captain Ryan Godfrey was superb and he put the Flames back in front on the way to a game-high 20 points. Perry Lakes remained composed, Mitchell Clarke (185-G-99) was dynamic, Ben Purser (200-F-90, college: Augusta) was fantastic and they pulled away when it mattered. The result meant former Perth Wildcats' pair Tom Jervis (211-C-87, college: Troy) and Greg Hire (201-F-87, college: Augusta)'s dream of reuniting to win a championship together at Rockingham didn't eventuate. Ferguson will now travel to America on Tuesday to resume his college career filled with confidence. 'My college coaches had so much confidence in me when I left to come home and now I want to reward that confidence with all of the experiences that I've had over here this year. 'I just want to keep getting better and be the best player I can be.' Courtesy of: thewest.com.au
Australiabasket.com All-Australian NBL1 West Awards 2021 - Sep 15, 2021
Grand Final MVP: Andrew Ferguson (189-PG-87) of Perry Lakes Player of the Year: Nic Pozoglou (196-G/F-96) of Cockburn C. Youth Player of the Year: Rowan Mackenzie (6'3''-G-99) of LCU Defensive Player of the Year: Nic Pozoglou (196-G/F-96) of Cockburn C. Coach of the Year: Matthew Parsons of Perry Lakes H.
Australiabasket.com All-Australian NBL1 West 1st Team 2021
Sunday Dech (196-G-94) of N.Adelaide R.
C.J. Turnage (201-F/G-95) of Norwood F.
Emmanuel Malou (206-C-93) of Mackay M.
Andrew Ferguson (189-PG-87) of Perry Lakes
Nic Pozoglou (196-G/F-96) of Cockburn C.
Scott Machado (186-G-90) of Mandurah M.
