By Kieren Vartuli

Norwood 76 | North Adelaide 53

The highly anticipated 2015 Grand Final rematch took place between the Norwood Flames and North Adelaide Rockets on Saturday evening. The defeat saw the Flames move their hot streak to five straight and left the Rockets at 3-2.

The game was extremely close from the get go with both clubs showing excellent determination on the offensive end as they were both working hard for their points from the field and at the line. Norwood were charging the lane very well causing some havoc inside but the Rockets were boxing out and ripping down every defensive rebound. Closing out the first term, North Adelaide scored on the final play to cut the margin to 10 (20-10) after a 9-0 Norwood run.

The second term was all Norwood who were incredible on both sides of the floor. The Norwood team had their shooting shoes on as they were sharp from the field giving them a 16 point lead with over 7 minutes left in the half. Despite the deficit, the Rockets were still playing hard although they were struggling from the field. Norwood outscored the visitors 25-12 and lead by 23 points going into the halftime break.

Things got worse before they got better for North as the Flames forced turnovers and capitalised on the scoreboard. The Rockets remained strong, diving for loose balls and hustling at both ends of the floor, showing a lot of determination despite the score. North’s transition defence did improve throughout the third period but Norwood was just too strong as they had a 31 point lead heading into the final break leaving the score at 61-30.

North Adelaide looked like an entirely different team in the fourth, outscoring the reigning champions 15-23 and finding consistency from the field. They were also much stronger on the defensive end as their pressure had drastically changed as well as their physicality when going for rebounds. They managed to cut the margin back down to 22 with 4 minutes remaining led by Shannon Mckay who had a game high 16 points. At the final buzzer, the home side walked off the court victors by 23 points. Norwood had five players in double figures and showed tremendous team effort – Cara Annettes with 15 points, 6 rebounds, followed closely by teammate Stephanie Talbot with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and Marisa Stabile with a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds).

Shannon McKay and Opal Mader played well for North, finishing with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 13 points, 4 rebounds respectively.

The champions will look to continue their undefeated season with a match at Starplex next week against the Central Districts Lions while the Rockets will look to bounce back against Forestville at home.

Round 6: Friday, 22 April 2016 @ 6.30pm

Norwood Flames v Central Districts Lions at Starplex

North Adelaide Rockets v Forestville Eagles at Hillcrest

ANZAC DAY ROUND: DETAILS HERE.