Rnd 2: Warriors Men fall to Rockets at home
By Kieren Vartuli
North Adelaide Rockets 71 | Woodville Warriors 68
The North Adelaide Rockets travelled to St Clair on Friday night and continued their strong start to their 2016 campaign defeating the Woodville Warriors by 3 points. Nelson Kirksey was the lead scorer with 22 points but it wasn’t enough to get the win at home.
After the opening tip, the physicality between the two sides could definitely be seen and the tough defensive presence could be felt throughout the stadium. During the first term, the Warriors were making the Rockets work for their points by sending them to the stripe to get back into the game after a strong start. Despite being down 2 at the end of the first, the Rockets played some fantastic defence and offense helping them stay in the game.
Throughout the second term, the Rockets were eager to push the home side for the lead. They made good use of their picks, which freed up many of their players. Rockets import and Indianapolis native, Cody Rhorer was doing quite a lot on the floor and finished with 12 points behind highest North Adelaide scorer Luke Mapunda (17). The game was tied up at 38 at the half.
The second half saw both teams going basket for basket demonstrating some excellent accuracy until Woodville were able to create a lead of 8 points with one minute left in the third. Within the last 6 minutes of the final quarter, the lead changed 5 times as the sides were once again able to hit their attempts one after the other. Unfortunately for Woodville, North Adelaide’s transition offence was quite quick and caught them off guard on the fast break.
In a post-game interview Cody Rhorer said
“Our defence was a big part of this win.”
This really showed as the Rockets made their presence known in the paint as well as forcing Woodville turnovers then executing on the offensive end.
The Rockets were able to hold onto the win making them 2-0 in 2016.
Round 3: Saturday, 2 April at 8.15pm
Woodville Warriors VS Central Districts Lions at Starplex
North Adelaide Rockets VS South Adelaide Panthers at Marion
Comments
Comment Guidelines: The SportsTG Network is made up of players, families and passionate sports followers like you who have a strong opinion about sport. That's great - we want you to have your say and share your thoughts with the world. However, we have a few rules that you must follow to keep it fun for all. Please don't be rude, abusive, swear or vilify others. Apart from some pretty serious sport sanctions, we also can ban you and report you if things get out of hand. So play fair and have fun, and thanks for your contribution.