By Kieren Vartuli

West Adelaide 79 | Norwood Flames 77

The 1^st seed Norwood Flames hosted the 4^th seed West Adelaide Bearcats in their round 18 fixtures. Coming into this, the Bearcats trailed the Tigers by 2-points and a very small percentage while the Flames were 6-points clear of North Adelaide.

Despite starting the game well, the Flames were unable to stop the Bearcats from taking an early lead. West Adelaide were defending quite well in the first term after conceding some silly fouls which could have been unforgiving if Norwood converted. After having an 8-point lead with 4 minutes remaining, the hosts were able to fight back and chip away at the margin. Norwood’s Chelsea Brook gave the home crowd something to cheer about after back-to-back baskets cut the lead down to 1. At the end of the first term, the hosts walked to the sidelines with a 1-point lead.

West Adelaide opened up the 2^nd term quickly by grabbing the lead right back. Both sides were trading baskets continuously throughout the term and at points gaining the lead. Some solid defence displayed by the flames including a strong rejection from Norwood’s Kristen Macaskill kept the margin at an arms length and once again they were able to chip away after a Bearcat extension. Unfortunately, after a turnover in one of the final plays of the half, the Flames were unable to tie it up giving the visitors the 3-point (36-39) lead at the main break.

With a vocal bench, the Bearcats were able to motivate themselves from the sidelines as well as on the floor. Some poor shot selections by Norwood seemed to hurt them on the scoreboard as they were down double digits with over 7 minutes remaining in the term. Fortunately for Norwood, they were able to stay in it by West Adelaide’s inability to continue running with the lead. After continuing the fight to stay in the game, Norwood eventually capitalised on the Bearcats easy basket misses by gaining the lead and heading into the final break up 4-points.

The final term was an excellent nail-biter with the game staying close right until the final siren. After Stana Zecevic cut the margin down to 2 points, Tahlia Fejo (28-points) scored 7 straight for the visitors giving them the lead and some breathing room. With the visitors looking to go home empty handed after Norwood regained control, Fejo finished a tough and-one to bring it down to a 1-point game with under a minute remaining. With only a few seconds remaining, West Adelaide were able to take the lead and hold off for the win in an electric atmosphere handing Norwood their second loss of the season.

The defeat has closed the gap for the minor premiership to 4-points. It is possible the race for the top spot will go down to the wire and will surely be an exciting final couple rounds to follow.

Round 19: Saturday, 30 July at 6.30pm

West Adelaide v North Adelaide @ Hillcrest

Norwood v Woodville @ Mars