By James Woite.

The Flames men have made it a double for Norwood Basketball Club, after getting past the Sturt Sabres 81-73.

After the scores were tied at half-time, the Flames took control in the third quarter, largely thanks to their dominance on the offensive glass.

Up six with a quarter to play, the Flames extended their buffer to 13 points early in the fourth, before they were made to survive a last gasp rally from their fifth seeded opponents.

Behind CJ Reed, the Sabres got back to within four points with 3.28 remaining, leading Flames coach David Cooper to call a timeout.

On the following possession, Flame Jacob Holmes nailed a jumper to increase the Flames’ lead to six. Sabre Tim Klaosen and Flame Matthew Lycett then traded misses, before Reed missed a three point shot with 2:27 remaining, which would have made it a one possession ball game.

Holmes then made another jumper for an eight point lead, before Reed split a pair of free throws, leaving the scenario as a three possession game with two minutes to play.

The margin was back to five 31 seconds later after a jumper from Dylan Rawson, before Lycett scored a sensational three point play to just about put the game out of the Sabres’ reach.

Following a missed three from Jan Warbout, the Flames got the rebound, and did just enough from the foul-line to hang on for their first flag since 2009.

Holmes was rewarded for his efforts with the MVP trophy. He registered 24 points and 23 rebounds.

Lycett (20 points, 11 rebounds) also had a double-double. Ben Howell provided a spark off the bench with 11 points and some strong defence, while Andrew and David Webber combined for 21 points.

Reed scored 27 points for the Sabres. Klaosen and Rawson combined for 28 points and 17 rebounds.

They out shot the Flames from the field, but had 17 fewer points from the foul-line. The Sabres had one more missed free throw than the Flames, despite taking 16 fewer attempts. The Flames won the rebounding count 52-43.

 

Earlier in the evening, the Flames were crowned champions of the women’s league, after defeating the North Adelaide Rockets 59-42.

The Flames had completed three double digit victories over the Rockets through the regular season and their Semi Final encounter, but it was the Rockets who had the better of the early going.

A strong start by the underdogs had Flames player-coach Jessica Foley calling for timeout inside the first three minutes. The Flames did recover well enough to earn a 15-15 tie at quarter-time, but they were clearly not playing to their optimum, with a host of missed shots that would normally be makes.

The Flames went on an 11-0 run in the second quarter, only for the Rockets to rally back to within one point. At half-time, the Rockets trailed 27-32, and were well and truly in the contest.

Despite Rocket Jo Hill scoring an early second half bucket when she was laying on the floor, it was the Flames who lifted during the premiership quarter. The Rockets struggled to get anything inside, and struggled with their jump shots, leading to many transition opportunities for the favourites.

The Flames won the third quarter 16-6 and led 48-33 heading into the fourth, on the back of another 11-0 run.

The Rockets scored the first five points of the fourth, but never seriously threatened to steal victory, allowing the Flames to empty their bench for the final seconds.

The Flames ended the season unbeaten for the second time in three years, while this was their third title in four years.

Jessica Good was named MVP as the game’s outstanding player. She had 13 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.

Marisa Stabile and Foley each added 12 points, while Rebecca Duke had 8 points and 6 assists.

Hill picked up 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets. Jamie-Lee Peris scored 9.

The Flames boasted a 52-40 rebounding advantage. 23 of their rebounds were offensive. They also had 16 assists to 10 turnovers, whereas the Rockets had 14 assists to 17 turnovers.