South Adelaide v Eastern Preview

Kerrin Truslove

If their last meetings are anything to go by, the South Adelaide v Eastern games at Marion could be the closest and most hard-fought of round 12 of the Central ABL.

On April 18, the Mavericks women snuck over the line 64-61 (albeit against a team minus Kerrin Truslve), while the Panther men returned the favour in the late game, 106-100.

South’s women have been on a solid rise since that game, the loss providing the impetus for a four game winning streak. The Panthers now see themselves tied with North and Norwood in fourth, making early wins over both of these teams now seem more important. At 17.7 points per game, Truslove is having the most prolific scoring season of her career, and also is pulling down a career-high 14.5 rebounds a game. In her first year in the league, Cassandra Carpenter’s 14.4 points per game have helped the Panthers fill the void left by Jenine Brown and Sarah Peddle has also upped her production each year since joining South in 2007.
Kerrin Truslove

Given roster changes, Eastern’s season has been an understandable mixture of highs and lows, with none of their margins being less than 14 since they last played South. The off-season loss of Amanda Williams has hurt and although Jane Symons and Jamie Fricker are capable players, no single player in the team is averaging in double figures. Coach Brenton Johnston has had the opportunity to blood some youth, with Under 16 state representatives Stephanie Talbot, Alex Wilson and Jess Hayward all getting their first Central ABL exposure this season. Talbot in particular has had good opportunities to play and early indications are that she has a bright future.

The men’s game features two teams tied with Woodville in 8th place and both would be desperate to take even a small step up the ladder. South’s surprising march through the 2008 finals signalled much hope for this season and while Justin Halleran’s departure was always going to hurt, some believe the loss of forward Mark Fuller has had even more of an impact. In his third Central ABL season, 19 year old guard Jarrad Hirst has demonstrated that he is well deserving of the increased opportunities he has received this year and Steve Pilkington continues to be a presence inside the key, consistently providing close to 15 points and rebounds per game, but South has struggled to contain opposition teams this season, giving up over 97 points or more eight times this season.

Eastern’s 2 and 9 record does not tell the full story of their season. The Mavericks were within striking distance of Forestville with 3 minutes to go and also had their chances against South, and wins in both of these games is the difference between being last, and being one game out of finals contention. Shane Breheny is having his third “double double” season and Will Smith is also in good form, tying a career high of 18 points against Sturt and 17 last week. Even so, Eastern will find it difficult without Brad Hill (Hill and Jacob Holmes are part of the Australian men’s team touring China) and will need a number of players to fill the 27.7 points per game void this creates. The Mavericks also have their problems at the defensive end, only once keeping their opponent below 98.

Eastern and South feature in five of the league’s 10 highest scoring games this year so expect the excitement in this game to be at the offensive end.




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