NBL1 Central | 2022 Men's Grand Final

Panther Pandemonium: It was emotional energy that charged the Panthers to their first Grand Final Mens victory since 1998 | Kelly Barnes/AllStar Photos

Grand Final: Woodville Warriors vs South Adelaide Panthers

Star-ling of South leads Panthers to Fairytale win

The South Adelaide Panthers have won their first title since 1998 and broken a 24-year drought in emphatic emotional fashion 58-88 at the Lights. It was an incredible MVP performance charged with fire and brimstone that decided the course of the match after a furious opening foray.

The Warriors favourite son in Riley Meldrum did Woodville a favour early hitting the opening triple of the night with both teams trading baskets early. The Warriors had the opening 5 points but that is all they would lead by for the rest of the contest. Todd Davies channelled some confidence early driving the ball tough to the hoop on multiple occasions and along with Starling stunned the Warriors with a 0-9 run to take the lead halfway through the first 5-9. That turned into a 4-14 surge as with a couple of Jeremy Smith and Andrew “Hawkeye” Barton arrows from deep bolted them into the lead 9-23 at the first change.

Starling chalked up his double double early in the second with the Warriors looking to reverse momentum. In telling scenes there were shots that just didn’t get friendly rolls and moments like Hoppo sneaking up behind Devon McGee and swatting him out of court – there was a genuine feeling the little things were going the way of the cats of the south.  The Panthers extended their lead out to 18 points before Jawan Stepney and Joe Jackson looked to change the momentum. The scoreline 27-40 after a 14-9 swing and suddenly it was back on. Another Barton triple and then the heads up play from Hoppo to Smith a half-time one-handed jam put the footnote on the half. Panthers sniffing history at the half up 29-45.

Warriors have been known to come out of the locker-room at half time with a renewed defensive mentality and it looked as if they might be able to turn the screws early. It resulted in Stepney scoring an early and1 but the Panthers import duo were having none of it. Smith and Starling went to heavy work while Davies grabbed another go-ahead drive to make it 39-53. Veteran sharpshooter James Boonstoppel hit a triple to lift the Warriors again before Starling hit back with a massive baseline two hander then scored again on the next play as three-quarter time approached. Nick Wurm got the runner to go for the Warriors and with one to go – it was 48-60 at the final change.

That’s when the 2014 Grand Final MVP in Starling took over at the start of the fourth as he reeled off a flurry of shots that dropped giving the Panthers a 0-6 start to the quarter and alarm bells for Scott Whitmore and the Warriors. On the flip side Scott Ninnis’s chargers after the timeout continued to pile on the Panther pain with another 0-11 run blowing the game out beyond 25 points in three and half minutes. It was Hoppo the hometown hero that put the finish to it as the Panthers long wait was over 58-88 – the army and its band striking up the celebration chants to the tune of 28 last quarter points.

Starling was undeniably MVP as he won the award for the second time since 2014 when he played for the Warriors with 31 points at 62 percent, 18 rebounds and an efficiency of 41. Next best was the “Mid-Range Marvel” in Smith who was happy to co-pilot this one with 26 points at 75 percent, 9 assists and 7 rebounds and Davies chipped in for 9 points. Meldrum led all for the Warriors with 16 points, McGee grabbed 10 points in his 13 minutes on court but the rest struggled to find consistent shots and momentum.

First, the MVP Starling was full of praise for his opposition. “Hats off to Woodville, its where I got my start and I’m so grateful to that club but to play at the stadium where lots of my former team-mates have been and to help lead my team to this historic championship it’s a huge blessing.”

When that unconscious patch of shooting occurred - Starling knew exactly what was going through his head. “Win win win and make plays by any means necessary and get stops at the other end. I said it on the NBL1 show – they touched us up two weeks back and I remember replaying that fourth quarter in my head and how Jawan [Stepney] was hitting those crazy shots and this time around I wanted to return the favour.”

Starling was under no false illusion how historic this championship was to the South Adelaide Panthers. “It’s amazing, obviously Scott is a legend of the club and for the club to have past guys like Al Green and Mark Davis and all the legends that played at the club, it’s an amazing feeling.”

Scott Ninnis also knew that with his family such a key part of many of the club’s championship victories. “It’s a long history for the Ninnis’s and the Panthers but tonight I could not be any prouder. To be able to play my part and get it done in the first year – it’s the stuff that dreams are made of.”

Ninnis also reflected on how emotion and the toil of waiting for their opportunity to claim a championship played on the club’s mind. “It’s something we spoke about before the game; Woodville have an intensity and a toughness that is second to none in this league. We wanted to match them not just for intensity but being more intense ourselves and I think that showed right from the start of the game. We managed to follow the gameplan and as we’ve done all year we hung our hat on defence and we did that.”

He was also full of praise for Starling who still even bewilders him now. “He’s a phenomenal athlete, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone that can do what he can do athletically like running from one end to the other and rebound as he does but also get there in stance and terrorise ball handlers as well – he’s a credit to himself as he’s banged up but he’s said to me during the week he’s got four quarters left in him and he showed it.”

The Panthers got the story to end the way they wanted – It’ll be Panther pandemonium in the South of Adelaide for some time to come.

Woodville Warriors 58 (Meldrum 14, McGee 10) defeated by South Adelaide Panthers 88 (Starling 31, Smith 26, Davies 9) at the Lights Community and Sports Centre