The Forestville Eagles have posted a 3-0 record to start Season 2011, after holding off the South Adelaide Panthers 95-80 in a high quality game at Wayville on Saturday.

Rashad Tucker was dominant again with 26 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks, while only committing one turnover.

Brad Haydon, making his first start of the season in place of John Wernham, backed up last week’s strong display with 21 points, 6 rebounds and three blocks.

Super-sub Nic Blair put in another good all-round performance, finishing with 17 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals.

The Panthers relied heavily upon 36ers duo Mitch Creek and Daniel Johnson for major production.

Creek was, along with Tucker, the Player of the Game, scoring 32 points to go with 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks. He also produced a spectacular fast break dunk early in the piece.

Johnson, who only arrived back in Adelaide yesterday, was inserted straight into the starting line-up. The big man did not have any trouble finding a groove, finishing with 24 points, albeit at just 38 per cent, along with 17 rebounds. He did, however, commit 6 turnovers.

South Adelaide’s Shane Boal was a solid contributor with 16 points, including four three-pointers. However, Isaiah Omamogho was well held, taking just three shots and scoring only 5 points.

The Eagles set up their victory with a 12-0 run over the space of just over two minutes in the third period.

A three from Creek had the Panthers within nine at 60-51 with 4.15 remaining, before Tucker sent the Eagles on their best run of the game when he backed down Creek, drew a foul, and scored the basket.

Trent Fildes (9 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) and Blair each split a pair of free throws, before Blair stole a dangerous cross-court pass and laid the ball up.

A basket from Tucker and a three-pointer from Haydon completed the run, with Forestville out to a 21 point advantage.

To South’s credit, they did not fade away, and fought their way back into the contest.

Lachlan Prest hit a buzzer-beating three for his only basket of the game, reducing the gap to 76-60 at three-quarter time.

South lifted their intensity in the fourth quarter, forcing the Eagles into missing some shots they would normally make, and when Blair committed an offensive foul, a comeback was on the cards.

Creek and Johnson were finding each other at will, and the margin was suddenly back to 10.

A couple of quick baskets got Forestville back out to a 14 point advantage with 6.13 remaining, but the Panthers would still not give-in, and another momentum swing saw them sneak within single digits with 5.18 to go.

The Eagles got two good looks at the basket on their next possession, but failed to convert on either, giving South a chance to get within six or seven, if they could score on their next possession. For all their solid play at both ends, the Panthers had not been this close since quarter-time.

Creek drove the baseline, setting up Johnson for a lay-up. However, Tucker came across from the weak-side to pull off a game-changing block.

At the other end, Tucker found Wernham, who scored a tough basket whilst being fouled in the process.

The Panthers could get within no close than nine again the rest of the way, giving up way too many offensive rebounds that led to easy second chance points for their opponents.

When Adam Doyle hit a three-point shot from the corner with 2.12 remaining, it was curtains for South, with the Eagles’ advantage back out to 13.

The final margin did not reflect the game. Aside from Forestville’s 12-0 run in the third, the game was very even from start to finish.

South scored the opening four points of the game, including a monster slam from Creek.

Johnson was also straight into the game, while Forestville had a little trouble finding their feet.

However, after they got on the board, the Eagles dictated terms through their full-court 1-2-2 trap defence, forcing a lot of turnovers.

Fildes was everywhere on defence, and produced one of the offensive plays of the night, reverse spinning past the defence to score a tough basket.

However, when the Panthers got through the trap, they converted most times, with Johnson good around the basket, and Boal knocking down a couple of threes.

At quarter-time, Forestville led 27-21.

The second quarter was mostly basket for basket, with Blair prominent for the Eagles.

At half-time, Forestville led 48-38.

 

Defining moment: South played great basketball for most of the night, and it was not surprising to see them fight back from a big deficit. Forestville had led by at least eight points ever since Blair scored the opening basket of the second quarter. However, the Panthers never gave in, and when Creek broke down the Eagles’ defence with a drive along the baseline, Johnson was left wide open under the basket. Creek’s great vision set up the 36ers big man, who only needed to put the ball in the hoop, and the game would be back to seven points.

Enter Rashad Tucker.

The former NBL superstar, who was fantastic on the night, made his most important play with a crucial blocked shot from behind. Brad Sullivan secured the rebound, before Tucker hit Wernham on the break, who scored a tough basket whilst being fouled by Omamogho. It was the killer blow that stopped the run of the brave Panthers.

Forestville verdict: This was Forestville’s best four quarter performance of the season, and it came against quality opposition. The team was solid at both ends, and is getting good contributions from a variety of sources. Tucker is playing at the elite level he is capable of, but at the same time, is involving his younger teammates possession after possession, which is only going to help improve the quality of the team. So far, the Eagles have played better each round, but have tough matches coming up against Sturt and West.

South Adelaide verdict: The Panthers played 38 solid minutes of basketball, save for that two minute span in the third quarter where they were outscored 12-0. Creek and Johnson are as formidable a combination as there is in this competition, and will only get better once Johnson gets a few practices under his belt. You can also expect a stronger contribution from Omamogho in future matches. South will be pleased with the 2-1 start, and they should hold their heads up after this performance. They have a great chance to improve their record to 3-1 when they face the Tigers in two weeks time.

By James Woite