By Jake Stoubos
Norwood Flames 86 | Woodville Warriors 78

After a close encounter with the Woodville Warriors, the Norwood Flames have come out victorious by 8 points at Mars last Saturday night.

From the jump, there was a competitive air to this match, with Woodville first to capitalise by scoring the initial basket. Norwood quickly retaliated with an early three point shot by Ian O’Boyle who swiftly showed off what they are capable of. The warriors managed to begin a solid run shortly thereafter, scoring 13 consecutive points. Thanks to some elite ball movement and precision shooting they quickly jumped to a 12 point lead. Nonetheless, when the game looked on the verge of going entirely Woodville’s way, the home side picked up their pace. The Flames started scoring consecutive shots and were able to bring it back to a 1 point game by quarter time.

Woodville yet again fired the first shot in the second quarter with a great three pointer by Bradley Squire. Shortly thereafter, the Warriors managed to replicate that remarkable play of theirs from the first period and sunk 4 consistent baskets. Before the momentum completely shifted in their favour, Norwood Head Coach, David Cooper called for a timeout in attempt to slow down this frenzy of theirs. This pause in play benefited the Flames for a little while, bringing the match back to an even playing field. However the mighty Warriors yet again had another strong flurry allowing them to recapture the lead and end the first half in front by 7 points.

Coach Cooper’s half time rally clearly inspired his troops as they elevated their defensive pressure to a whole new level. The Flames held back the Warriors to scoring less than just 10 points in the third quarter, something completely different to their earlier shooting dominance. Thanks to their hearty defence, Norwood had more scoring opportunities than their opposition, which made for a resurgent third quarter. With the score level at the end of the period, a giant final quarter was on the horizon.

There was an absurd amount of pressure being delivered by both sides in the last period. The scoring was continuously back and forth for the majority of the time until Norwood managed to break the cycle due to some fouls made by Woodville. These errors began the downfall of the Warriors, as the Flames were able to successfully shoot some handy free-throws extending their lead.  From here onwards, Woodville began missing crucial shots they needed to make in order to stay alive, not to mention the amount of rebounds they were giving up also. Unfortunately for their sake though, Norwood continued making the most of their scoring opportunities and eventually closed out the match 86-78 at the final whistle.

Matthew Lycett had an exceptional night for his Flames scoring 28 points as did Jacob Holmes attaining 17 rebounds and 8 assists for his winning side.

Nelson Kirksey was best on ground for the Warriors achieving 19 points and 9 rebounds.

Round 20: Saturday, 6 August at 8:15pm
North Adelaide vs Woodville @ St Clair
Southern Tigers vs Norwood Flames @ Morphett Vale