Benito Carbone (@_DavidCarbone)

Southern Tigers 90 | Woodville Warriors 89

In what will undoubtedly go down as one of the matches of the season, the Woodville Warriors fell agonisingly short of ending the Southern Tigers’ 9-match winning streak, going down 89-90 in front of a raucous crowd at St Clair last Saturday. Mitch Creek and Alex Starling were instrumental in the thrilling win for the Tigers, draining 25 and 34 points respectively. For the hosts, Nelson Kirksey pioneered their second-half charge and finished the game with 34 points and 10 rebounds, while Darren Ng sunk 5 triples to have 23 points for the match.

It took no time for the league’s two in-form sides to show their quality and determination, as Kirksey ripped apart the Tiger’s defense for a three-point play in the opening 15 seconds. Starling also showed up to the party and had 5 points in the first minute. Ng and Creek traded early maximums in a high-octane opening quarter that saw the visitors pull away to open up a 22-32 lead at the first break.

The absorbing affair continued to entertain in the second as Starling pulled down a huge dunk before McKee (8 points) replied for the hosts from the perimeter for 2. The Warriors applied great defensive pressure throughout the quarter but failed to make up ground on the league-leaders, despite 20 points from Kirksey in the half. Starling also had a massive half, with 18 points as the Tigers reached the main interval carrying a 10-point lead.

If fans thought Kirksey was giving his all in the first two terms, he proved them completely wrong in the third. The Warriors star kept his side in the match with some incredible offensive plays before an astounding spell of rabid defensive pressure from the hosts took Creek and Starling out of the game and allowed Woodville to draw level with their high-flying opponents late in the quarter.

Down 67-69 at the final break, the hosts took the initiative with a huge three-point play from substitute Maiorana. Barton, who scored 8 points from his 5 minutes of game-time for Southern, replied with his second three of the night before Ng drained an outrageous three over Creek to keep his side within 2 points. The tension was building around the stadium as the teams went blow for blow in a hugely entertaining last term. The Tigers were down three on the bench, with Staude, Peacock and Ellison all fouling out with five minutes remaining.

Southern moved out to a precarious 6-point lead with 3:30 left as their defense found another gear to hold out Kirksey who went scoreless in the final term. The lead was erased within a minute though as Ng stole the limelight with an awesome triple from downtown with a foul to take away. A great drive from Stanbridge put the hosts in front 87-86 before a crucial maximum from Tim Smyth put the Tigers up by two. Another Stanbridge field-goal saw scores level at 89 apiece with just 16 seconds remaining. With just four seconds on the clock, Mitch Creek dodged and weaved to find room to make the game-winning shot. From the perimeter he put up a jumper, only to be controversially fouled by Adam Miller with just one-tenth of a second on the clock. The call saw Creek take a trip to the line with no time left for Woodville to respond. Boos echoed around the Centre but the efforts were futile as the former Warrior converted the first free-throw to hand the Tigers a 90-89 win, sending the travelling Southern fans into raptures.

Following the match, the 36ers star had this to say about the game, his combination with Alex Starling and their next matchup with rivals Norwood:

“Both teams did a really good job of just playing. It was a really topsy-turvy game and it was hard for both teams to gain momentum. Once a team did it was really touchy. (Nelson) Kirksey, Dani (McKee) and then Darren (Ng) did a great job in penetrating and getting into gaps, which made it really hard for us and we had to force rotations; we were lucky to get over the line.”

“Alex and I train together every day. I know his work ethic, the kind of guy he is and what he stands for as a player. It’s great to have him out here, I think we have a bright future ahead of us.”

“We’ve obviously played Norwood already. We didn’t have Alex (Starling) at the time and they didn’t have Jacob (Holmes) so we expect a very physical and quick paced dogfight like tonight. At the end of the day it’s another basketball game. They’ve got five players, so do we and there’s two baskets and one ball. If we put the ball in the hole more times than they do, we’ll win. We just have to try and focus on ourselves and put defence first.”

The win sees the Tigers record their tenth consecutive victory to begin the season, firmly placing themselves in title contention. Woodville on the other hand, saw the end of a 6-game winning streak but did not lose any respect, maintaining their position in third.

Round 10: Saturday, 21 May at 8.15pm

Woodville Warriors v Norwood Flames @ St Clair