By Kieren Vartuli

Woodville Warriors 77 | North Adelaide 62

Saturday evening, the North Adelaide Rockets lined up against the Woodville Warriors for the final time this season. Woodville were victorious and have secured the series lead 2-1 after their equaliser earlier this season.

Both teams broke out of their barriers quickly and scoring early including a successful Cody Schutz ‘and 1’ for the Warriors. Luke Mapunda was also looking to go out with a bang in what appears to be his last game against the Warriors due to his retirement, alongside Tom Rowe and Brett Collins. Mapunda finished with a game high 24-points after starting very well in the first term. Despite much of the first quarter being controlled by the Warriors, which included a nice steal and assist by Nelson Kirksey and an emphatic dunk by Luke Stanbridge, Mapunda closed the quarter with a buzzer beater leaving the margin at 8.

The Rockets came out blasting in the second term as they were able to cut the deficit to as much as 3 after trailing 12 early. This was through Mapunda continuing to heat up from the field as well as a couple of quick points from Cody Rhorer in his first game back from injury. Woodville were not going to let their lead slip away and the game was controlled by the visitors. Daniel Mckee was able to finish through some contact after grabbing his offensive rebound, then soon after converted his free throw to push out a 7-point lead. After receiving a nice dime, Brad Jonnek was able to help keep himself and the Rockets in it after finishing a nice baseline layup. As the men went into the locker room for the halftime break, the score was set at 49-37 in favour of the hosts.

The Rockets were still able to stay in the game throughout the third term despite some excellent plays from the Warriors.  This was through some plays of their own including a 2^nd chance situation by Jonnek after a North Adelaide miss. North Adelaide were trying to stop the Warriors from extending their lead out to an unreachable amount with some tough defence. This was through a classic Adam Schiles rejection that sent the ball out of court hard.  With the final play fast approaching and a comeback possible, the Rockets needed to defend as hard as possible. Alas they were unsuccessful as Amanuel Shume scored before the buzzer sounded to end the 3^rd term and improve an already comfortable lead to 11.

Still with an opportunity to comeback, the Rockets opened up the term with a basket cancelling out the earlier buzzer beater. The final term was not only successful outright for the Warriors but also on the defensive end of the hardwood. Kirksey, Stanbridge and Mitchell Meldrum also recorded blocks in this final term. It was business as usual for Nelson Kirksey as he finished the game flirting with a triple double (19-points 12-rebounds and 7 assists).

The final buzzer sounding, handed the Warriors their 13^th win of the season and helped them to potentially hold 4^th seed if the Eagles fell to South Adelaide.  This loss for the Rockets has moved their record to 6-14 and left them in the 7^th seed with one game remaining. This is against the league leading Southern Tigers.

Round 21: Saturday, 13 August at 8.15pm
Southern Tigers v North Adelaide Rockets @ Hillcrest 
Eastern Mavericks v Woodville Warriors @ St Clair