Forestville and Sturt face off in The Advertiser’s Adelaide Basketball Challenge live stream
Sturt has taken on Forestville in our inaugural live stream of the Adelaide Basketball Challenge. Click here to rewatch all the women’s and men’s hoops action.
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A daughter of a four-time Port Adelaide premiership player and two sons of NBL stars will be lighting up the court in the inaugural Adelaide Basketball Challenge this Saturday.
In a first for the sport the men’s and women’s games between Sturt and Forestville at Pasadena (Sturt’s Daws Rd home at Springbank College) will be live streamed on advertiser.com.au.
It will give families, friends and club recruiters from around the globe a chance to tune in.
The games are set to capture some thrilling moments with the potential match up in the women’s between Eagles’ Izzy Borlase and Sturt’s Jade Johnson.
Borlase is the daughter of four-times Port Adelaide SANFL flag winner Darryl Borlase and former Australian champion netballer Jenny Borlase.
Forestville women’s coach Simon Pritchard said Borlase was a star.
“Izzy has thrived at this level,” Pritchard said.
“She has earned her spot in the team through pure hard work.
“She has taken on extra individual sessions to improve her game.
“Jess Simons (season high 24 points) is another of our players who has thrived … greatly improving her all-court game in the process.
“It will be challenging for the athletes on Saturday night as Sturt is a very experienced and well-coached unit.”
The Adelaide Basketball Challenge is a newly-formed, condensed league, comprising of 10 top tier men’s and women’s clubs.
The clubs were set to take part in the NBL1 Central competition this year but that was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As well as Johnson, Kayla Matthews has also had a huge impact for Sturt.
Matthews has averaged 16 points a match and last week chalked up 31 against Norwood.
In the men’s fixture Sturt will look to jump back to second on the ladder when it takes on Forestville’s second side.
Sabres coach Paul Rigoni said the format was a good chance to test a few younger players against a strong opposition.
“We decided to enter two teams and we found the set up was a bit more relaxed,’’ Rigoni said.
“The live stream is a great promotion, people can tune in and watch a lot of the promising players coming through.’’
Sturt’s men’s side will include two sons of ex-National Basketball League players.
Joel Spear, whose father David Spear won an NBL title with the 36ers in 1986, and Tom Kubank, son of ex-Townsville Suns and Adelaide star Graham Kubank, will line up with the Sabres.
Forestville men’s coach Andy Simons has enjoyed the new competition format.
“It has been good for a number of our bench players to get a few opportunities to play,” Simons said.
“A number of our younger players have done well.”
The women’s match, which will be live streamed on advertiser.com.au, tips off at 6.30pm, before the men’s clash which to be showcased at 8pm.