LIAM PHILLIPS
CENTRAL District Basketball
Club is off to a terrific
start to its NBL1 Central
season after its defence rose
to the occasion to beat West
Adelaide 83-76.
The Bearcats only had one
quarter where they scored
at least 20 points, with Lion
Magok Manyang holding
West Adelaide import Earnest
Ross to 21 points from
22 field goal attempts in a
great showing.
Manyang also chipped in
with 11 points on only three
field goal attempts, going
two-from-three from deep
and converting five-fromeight
free throws, but the
heavy lifting on the offensive
end was done by Lual Diing.
Diing, who spent the
summer training with the
Adelaide 36ers, racked up
27 points while going 9/23
from the field and 7/10 from
the free throw line, and also
grabbed 15 rebounds in a
game-winning performance.
Coach Matt Atkins said the
result was no surprise, but he
was pleased with the way his
defence turned up.
“We expect to win every
week, but you just don’t
know when it’s week one,”
he said.
“The defensive end is
where we won that game –
if you keep a team under 80
points, you’re probably going
to win.
“We definitely left some
points out there – I think
we easily could’ve scored
100, but building chemistry
on offence takes time and
I feel good about the things
we do well.” Atkins was also
complimentary of the performances
from Manyang and
Diing, and also gave a mention
to Kalani Sapwell.
“Lual can score from anywhere,
and that’s what makes
him so hard to stop,” he said.
“He can hit threes, and get
to the rim, and every night
he’s probably the best athlete
on the floor.
“Magok guarded their
American import right off the
bat and did a really good job
– he still scored 21 points, but
a lot of them were late and
hard-earned.
“Kalani Sapwell also
played just about the entire
last quarter – he was able to
get both feet in the paint with
his penetration which was
something we struggled with
in the first three quarters, and
I’m the kind of coach who
doesn’t change things unless
it’s broken.”
It was a rougher showing for
the women’s side, going down
32-96 against West Adelaide.
The game was over by
quarter time as the Bearcats
opened the game
with an incredible 30-2
frame, and though the Lions
lifted in the middle section
of the game, Sky Langenbrinck
(25 points on 11/14
shooting) and Jennie Rintala
(23 points on 7/10) got whatever
they wanted.
The Bearcat pressure was
intense, racking up 30 turnovers
enabling West Adelaide
to get up 32 more
field goal attempts than
the Lions, who will have
plenty of work to do going
forward.