By Kieren Vartuli

North Adelaide Rockets 79 | Forestville Eagles 74

In one of the Round 15 clashes for the 2016 Premier League season, Forestville (then 4^th seed) hosted North Adelaide (3^rd) on a very chilly Saturday evening at the Wayville Sports Centre.

The opening few plays demonstrated what type of game it would be for Olivia Thompson as she opened up her boxscore with a beautiful post move and continued with a silky long two. She also put in a lot of work defensively with a nice block which soon turned into a fantastic transition ‘and 1’ by Samantha Defrancesco. After starting off the game cold, North Adelaide got onto the scoreboard with an ‘and 1’ of their own by Opal Mader. Despite Thompson’s first quarter dominance, the Rockets were able to go on a 6-1 run in the final 3 minutes to take a 5 point lead at the sound of the first quarter final buzzer.

After battling hard for points through unsuccessful three point plays, the hosts were able to regain the lead. Fortunately for North Adelaide, Forestville’s inability to consistently convert free throws helped them stay in reaching distance of the lead throughout the game. With an excellent demonstration of some hard, contested basketball Forestville were able to force North Adelaide turnovers and continue leading. Despite their turnovers, the Rockets were able to close the half down only 2 points (36-34).

By the end of the third term, the Eagles outscored their opponents 21- 15 extending their lead to 8-points.

Forestville’s Olivia Thompson, Samantha Defrancesco and Aimee Brett were in double figures by the end of the game with 23, 22 and 10 respectively and combined for 65 points. The visitors also had 3 players in double figures, Hill, Mader (16) and Mckay (13) led by Hill’s game high 24-points. Hill was excellent from the free throw line finishing with 10 made free throw’s.

With the margin still slim heading into the fourth, a comeback was more than possible. Both sides traded baskets back and forth for the lead for much of the final term. Both clubs were able to answer back whatever was thrown their way including 6 consecutive triples despite the defensive applied. This was truly an excellent sight for fans of sharpshooting in attendance as their accuracy was immaculate. After the trading of baskets, a turnover late in the game for Forestville proved costly for the hosts as this allowed North Adelaide to hold on for a 5-point victory.

The road win for North Adelaide proved useful as this allowed them to stay in contention for a top 2 finish. The coming rounds will be vital for the shaping of the finals. This loss has allowed Forestville to drop into 5^th position (tying 4^th) 2-points and percentage behind 2^nd and third.

Round 16: Saturday, 9 July at 6:30pm

West Adelaide Bearcats v Forestville Eagles @ Port Adelaide

Central Districts Lions v North Adelaide Rockets @ Starplex