Young Hawk stars in NBL1 Central triumph

Tuesday, August 15, 2023

Rising Illawarra star Lachlan Olbrich has capped off a successful NBL1 Central season with West Adelaide.

Illawarra’s Lachlan Olbrich has well and truly established himself as a future star of the NBL through his NBL1 Central performances this season, and wrapped up a successful campaign with the West Adelaide Bearcats by being named the conference’s Grand Final MVP.

The first-year pro teamed up with Adelaide 36ers duo Mitch McCarron and Fraser Roxburgh, and Tasmania wing Anthony Drmic for the Bearcats against Malith Machar’s Forestville Eagles on Saturday night, where an immense second quarter saw the side emerge as 11-point winners.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Lachlan Olbrich threw down one of the ????????? dunks you'll ever see?? ?<br><br>Watch the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL1CentralFinals?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL1CentralFinals</a> Grand Final Live & Free on <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> Freebies ? <a href="https://t.co/40j8q3Rrsh">pic.twitter.com/40j8q3Rrsh</a></p>— NBL1 (@NBL1) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL1/status/1690320804897083393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 12, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Olbrich’s side were down by seven points at quarter time, but exploded to score 41 points in the second term and open up a 13-point half-time lead.

The Illawarra centre led the game in two of the three major statistics – with 24 points and 10 rebounds – and added eight assists to fall just shy of an incredible double-double.

He also registered a solitary block and shot and impressive 10-15 from the field – including two of four three-pointers.

McCarron added 18 points, six rebounds and 11 assists, while Drmic had 15 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Development player Roxburgh was an impressive influence off the bench, with seven points and six rebounds.

The Grand Final victory marks the end of a successful season for Olbrich and the Bearcats, who finished the regular season on top of the ladder with a 15-3 record.

Olbrich poses with the Grand Final MVP trophy.