By Jake Stoubos
Norwood Flames 74 | Woodville Warriors 52

Norwood have retained their top spot on the ladder after a hard fought battle at home against an impressive Woodville outfit by 18 points last Saturday night.

The Warriors kicked off the night with the first possession of the ball, leading to a shot to be made by Aimee Herriman. Norwood was quick to fire back with a basket of their own, setting up for a back and forth first quarter. The gameplay remained fairly continuous from here on until later in the period, where the Warriors gave up their first foul of the night. This eventually led to four straight fouls being made by Woodville, allowing for the opposition in Norwood to sink 9 consecutive free-throws.  These mistakes by the Warriors cost them as the Flames managed to take the lead 21- 12 at the end of the first.

This time around, Norwood were first to score adding to their lead thanks to a nice shot being made by their captain, Jess Good. The play retained its continuous style from the first period, seeing both sides score, making for quite the fast paced quarter. However after some nice teamwork and ball movement by the Warriors, this allowed them narrow down the Flames’ lead giving them hope heading into halftime.

The third quarter was much the same as the second, though it could have gone entirely in favour of Woodville. The Warriors were presented with several more scoring opportunities than that of their opposition and could have easily jumped in front, yet were unable to capitalise due to some poor accuracy and senseless mistakes.

Much to Woodville’s dismay, their disappointing form carried over into the final quarter. They were just not able to match the quality brought to the court by Norwood. The Flames put on a clinic in the last few minutes, making shots from all different angles. Eventually, the premiership favourites ran away with the game in the end scoring almost double the amount of points of their opposition. They were victorious 74-52.

Good had a brilliant night with a double-double (19 points, 18 rebounds) and her dominance on the court and leadership skills was the deciding factor as she was able to lift her side and provide positive thinking when required.

Tavarsha Scott-Williams was best on ground for her Warriors, also with a double-double (19 points, 11 rebounds)

Woodville will be disappointed that they were unable to grasp control of the match when provided the opportunity. The Flames will no doubt look to continue their imposing form next week when they take on the Southern Tigers at Morphett Vale.

Round 20: Saturday, 6 August at 6.30pm
North Adelaide vs Woodville @ St Clair
Southern Tigers vs Norwood Flames @ Morphett Vale