By Benito Carbone (@_DavidCarbone)

Woodville Warriors 94 | Central Districts Lions 69

The Woodville Warriors defeated a struggling Central Districts Lions outfit at St Clair, winning 94-69 on the back of a brilliant first half performance. Luke Stanbridge was dominant, piling on a game-high 29 points for the hosts, while perennial class-acts in Nelson Kirksey and Darren Ng only had 14 points apiece, despite continuing to stamp their authority on-court. For the visitors, sharp-shooter Nelson Larkins had 19 points and was aided by 12 and 10 points from Daniel Carlin and Christopher Clausen, respectively.

Woodville dominated from the outset with Luke Stanbridge (13-16 FG) attacking the rim to hand his side an early lead. Centrals big Daniel Carlin slammed down a pair of dunks in the first term but was overshadowed by some rabid inside defence from the hosts that held the Lions to just 13 points in the first term. Continuous rapid breaks also hurt the away side, with the Warriors managing a tremendous 35 points by the early break. Down by 22, the Lions looked to make amends with Nelson Larkins converting two shots from behind the arc. Scoring avenues for the visitors were few and far between though, as the Warriors widened the margin to reach half-time up 60 to 27.

A triple from Joseph Campbell (9 points, 6 steals) early in the third term was quickly followed by another from Larkins as the Centrals looked to regain some of their integrity lost in recent weeks. It didn’t last long though as the hosts took control yet again. The party tricks were on display as Kirksey made a steal before burying the ball with a clean one-handed slam. An impressive Ng lay-up followed, as the Warriors increased their lead to 34 points at the final interval. The Centrals coach did his best to push his players in the last quarter and his side did manage to improve. The ball remained largely in Woodville’s defensive half and despite some brilliant rejections from Stanbridge and Ng, the visitors comfortably outscored the hosts to salvage some pride.

The 94 to 69 win sees Woodville move to second with a superior percentage to Norwood and they’re shaping up to be the team to watch come September. They face the Sabres next week who will be desperate to hold their 5^th seed from the in-form Bearcats. Contrastingly, finals are a pipe dream for the Lions. The 2-11 side must continue to be competitive and give their players plenty of match experience, starting next week against the bottom-placed Eastern Mavericks.

Round 14: Saturday, 25 June at 8:15pm

Sturt Sabres vs Woodville Warriors @ Pasadena

Central Districts Lions vs Eastern Mavericks @ Starplex