Forestville Eagles (2-1, 4th) v Central District Lions (3-0, 2nd)
Thursday April 25, 5.00pm at Wayville

After three comfortable wins, the Central District Lions have a great chance to show if they are contenders or pretenders when they take on the Forestville Eagles in an Anzac Day blockbuster.

The Lions’ three wins have come against three opponents who sit in the bottom four on the ladder. Their most recent triumph was a 91-72 win at Eastern.

Kyle Miller was held to just 13 points, but did a great job of finding his teammates by dishing off 10 dimes. One player to benefit greatly from Miller’s prolific play was Chris Clausen, who posted 22 points and 8 rebounds. Luke Frost (15 points, 5/6 FG, 9 rebounds), Joel Goodenough (11 points, 4 rebounds) and Tom Cioffi (9 points, 13 rebounds) were also solid.

Following a stuttering start against West, the Eagles have bounced back nicely since with two straight wins. Their 88-71 win over Sturt in Round 3 did not truly reflect their dominance. The Eagles led 58-29 at half-time, but were outscored 7-20 in the final period when the game was done and dusted.

While Jake Rios (22 points, 5 treys) again led the Eagles in scoring, the energetic Charles Newland (11 points, 7 rebounds) posted a career high in points for the second week in succession. Adam Doyle (17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals) and Brad Haydon (15 points, 11 rebounds) were also influential.

The Eagles have won 16 straight against the Lions. However, the new look Lions have already shown that long losing streaks do not faze them by defeating Sturt in Round 1. This makes for an intriguing fixture.

Eagles to win a close one.

By James Woite

Photo courtesy of Tanya Fielding