By Kieren Vartuli

Norwood Flames 87 | West Adelaide 65

The reigning champions, Norwood hosted the West Adelaide Bearcats in a cold round 18 clash on Saturday night. Coming into this matchup, the Flames were second trailing the top spot by both points and percentage. West Adelaide were mid-way down the table in 6^th seed considerably behind Forestville.

With the game looking even after the opening tip with both teams trading baskets, the hosts quickly heated up to take the lead after trailing the visitors early on. It was quite a tidy game from the champions applying some strong defence without fouling. Norwood only fouled 9 times throughout the game, compared to West Adelaide’s 17. Norwood were able to give the crowd a bit of a show after capitalising off a turnover with a smooth fast break dunk by Matthew Lycett. Heading into the second quarter, the Flames held a small 5-point margin.

The Bearcats were looking hungry early in the second term as they opened up the quarter with some excellent hustling. The game stayed quite even with both sides trading baskets consistently until a defensive lapse left the visitors on the wrong side of a 6-point margin. Despite being down, Blake Truslove pulled down his three offensive boards in the 2^nd term igniting a fire within. He finished with a double-double, recording 11 rebounds and 12 points off 50% shooting. The Flames were unable to put the bearcats to bed in the second term as they were kept at an arm’s length until the halftime siren. They walked into the locker rooms up 13.

The third term also began well for the Bearcats as they increased their defensive presence on the floor and contesting shots. They were able to cut their margin down to 7 with 5:30 remaining. Unfortunately, this did not continue as West Adelaide began to struggle from the field while Norwood were the opposite. A comeback appeared difficult by the end of the 3^rd as the Bearcats were down 18.

Much of the same continued into the final term with West Adelaide struggling from the field. Norwood’s sharpshooter, Ian O’Boyle was astounding from deep as he finished the quarter at 5-9 (56%) and the game with 17 off 6-11. It was an average night from the field by the Flames as they shot 37%. Despite the Bearcats having the same, they did not take as many shots. Additionally, Norwood’s inside game proved they were able to take 36 of their 87 in the paint. As the final buzzer sounded, the Flames took the game by 22-points.

This win has kept both sides in the same position heading into the final couple rounds of their respective campaigns.

Round 19: Saturday, 30 July at 8.15pm

Norwood v Woodville @ Mars

West Adelaide v North Adelaide @ Hillcrest