By Sam Phillips

North Adelaide Rockets 73 | South Adelaide Panthers 69

Despite a late scare, North Adelaide continued its flawless start to the season, proving too strong for a gallant South Adelaide on Saturday night.

Panthers’ Coach, Al Green stressed for star player Chris Johnson to ‘lead by example’ and early on it was clear Johnson was motivated, picking up a huge block that had the ‘Panther Army’ in full voice.

Rockets’ imports Cody Rhorer (13 points, 3 steals) and Luke Mapunda were lively early, demanding the ball in good positions. Rockets fans may have feared the worst when Mapunda suffered a body blow leaving him to stagger off the court but he appeared relatively unaffected after a short stint on the bench.

An amazing alley oop finished off by Steve Pilkington briefly gave South Adelaide the lead, before the quarter ended all tied up at 20-20.

A tight battle continued at the start of the second quarter, with both teams going to the line early. However, the game began to open up with Mapunda taking 9 rebounds for the quarter, giving the opportunity for the Rockets to go on a 16-0 run in the space of three minutes to lead by 12 at the half.

In the third quarter, the Rockets demonstrated the importance of good ball movement with Tom Rowe (6 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals) and Brett Collins (4 assists, 8 points) setting up a number of  well executed offensive plays.

The Panthers were able to weather a 10-3 run by North, aided by strong board work by Johnson and Pilkington. Ryan Gardner began to assert himself on his way to a game high 24 points. At the final change, South had narrowed the margin to just 10 points (50-60).

Backed by a vocal crowd, the Panthers toiled hard to make a late charge at the Rockets, cutting the margin to just 3 points after Ryan Gardner made shooting from beyond the arc look easy.

North Adelaide however was able to hold firm throughout a tense last minute, nailing crucial free throws to keep South Adelaide at an arm’s length. South Adelaide fans while disappointed with a close loss, were pleased with the four quarter effort shown by their side.

Gardner (24 points, 2 steals), Johnson (12 rebounds, 11 points) and a Pilkington double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) led the way for the Panthers, continuing their bright starts to the season.  

For the Rockets, Pike (21 points, 5 rebounds) featured prominently in the second half, while Mapunda’s double-double (16 rebounds, 10 points) showed his versatility will be an asset to the Rockets this season.

BLOCKBUSTER ROUND: Sunday, 10 April at Pasadena

South Adelaide Panthers V Norwood Flames @ 6.30pm

North Adelaide Rockets V Southern Tigers @ 8.15pm