By Kieren Vartuli

Norwood Flames 65 | North Adelaide 59

In a battle to close the gap between first and second, the North Adelaide Rockets hosted the Norwood flames in their second season meeting on Saturday.

After a very slow and cold start for the Rockets, they got on the scoreboard with 5:20 remaining in the first term. The visitors controlled much of the first on both ends of the floor by forcing turnovers, tough shots and heating up from the field offensively. Norwood was also superior when it came to tearing down the defensive boards as well as controlling the paint. North Adelaide turned it around in the second half of the first quarter and forced an 11-point deficit at the end of the first (10-21).

North Adelaide opened up the second quarter with a bucket off a strong offensive rebound, although the visitors answered right back with a basket of their own. This consistency from Norwood continued throughout the game, as with 6:13 remaining in the half, they were 45% from the field including a brilliant 60% from 3-point land. The hosts on the other hand were struggling a little with a field goal percentage of 25 and 0% from deep. Offensively, this was a strong quarter for the Rockets despite the lack of 3-pointers as they were attacking the rim much more often and eventually finished the quarter outscoring the visitors 15-11.

Coming out of the half-time break, Opal Mader made it a 5-point game with plenty of time to stage a comeback victory. Soon after, Jo Hill narrowed the margin even more after finishing through contact, leaving the score at 32-34. The scores remained close for much of the quarter until North Adelaide began to struggle with turnovers and Norwood capitalised off them. Both sides were working hard for the offensive board, a great sight for all in attendance. Heading into the final term, North Adelaide were still struggling from the field with a FG% of 26 compared to Norwood’s 38. Norwood were also able to stretch their lead out to 10 (37-47).

Sarah Elsworthy showed some good transition offence in the final term pushing for a quick basket off a steal, which cut the lead back down to 8-points. North Adelaide was also not allowing the visitors to easily increase their lead and they were sending them to the line to earn points. As a result of North Adelaide’s hard work, it was a 2-point game with under 1:20 remaining in the game. Unfortunately for the hosts, the Flames were able to hold onto their tight lead for a 6-point 59-65 victory.

Despite the slow night from the field, Jo Hill, Opal Mader and Sarah Elsworthy combined for a total of 28-points. The visitor’s top scorers were Jessica Good, Cara Annetts and Kierstan Tindall who combined for 44 of the teams 65.

North Adelaide’s loss not only allowed the gap between first and second/third/fourth to widen (points) but also allowed the Southern Tigers to take 2^nd seed on percentage.

Round 15: Saturday, 2 July at 6.30pm
Norwood Flames v Central Districts @ Mars
North Adelaide v Forestville @ Wayville