MEN Report: Norwood rout Sabres at Home
The Norwood Flames made a complete
mess of the Sturt Sabres on Saturday night at MARS Stadium, running away with a
33-point win.
A balanced opening quarter wasn’t
surprising, as Mark Bauer and Jordan Heading got involved early for the Sabres
and made themselves known. Norwood’s Mathew Lycett seemed very comfortable on
home court, helping the Flames to a 6 point lead the first break.
Sturt kept up with the Flames at
the beginning of the second, however a 14-2 run was what steamrolled the Sabres
into the ground. Norwood showed pure class under extreme pressure and at high
intensity, with the margin escalating from 3 points to 20 all in the one
quarter, as the Flames lead 45-26 at the half time break.
Maher’s men came out bolstering
out of the gates in the second half with a bit of spark, however it only got
uglier. Matthew Long combined with Andrew and Daniel Webber to force the lead
out to 28 points and really stamp their authority on the game. Norwood lead
71-43 with a quarter to play.
The Flames took the fourth quarter
as an opportunity to give their bench players some extra run on the court, as
they continued to force high intensity pressure and restrict a lot of scoring in
defence. The final score saw the Flames win by a comfortable 33 points, 89-56.
After a 33 point exhibition last
week against the Tigers, Dexter Moore (Sabres) had a poor night, sinking 2/21
field goal attempts, and 9 points all together for the night. The only Sabre to
score double digits was Heading with 13 points. Norwood’s talls were dominant
in the paint, scoring 40 points to 18 inside the lane. Long finished up with 19
points for the night, while Lycett scored 16 points and 9 rebounds. Daniel
Webber also scratched up 16 points for himself.
WOMEN Report: Flames' streak ends in Overtime
In what was undoubtedly the most astonishing match we have
seen so far this year, the Sturt Women prevailed in enemy territory as they snapped
Norwood’s remarkable 31-game win streak in a one point overtime thriller at
MARS Stadium on Saturday night.
This game had it all - and if 11 tied scores and 17 lead
changes for the night doesn’t tell you enough, the margins will.
The game was relatively even to start the game, with the
scores level 20 apiece at quarter time. The intensity was high and it was
telling that the next three quarters were going to be just as tough. Hannah
Richards (Sabres) wasted no time making her presence known under the bucket,
while Jessica Good and Amy Lewis (Flames) made strong first impressions on the
game.
The second quarter saw Norwood pull away, as they found
themselves back in their familiar game-controlling character. Some poor passing
errors in offense for Sturt helped the Flames build a comfortable 11 point
lead, with Lewis and Cara Boothy stepping up to the plate for the Flames. In
the final play of the quarter, Natalie Novosel (Sabres) sunk three points to
restrain the deficit to only 6 points (44-38).
Inspired by Novosel, Sturt replied with more fight in the
third quarter, working their way back into the game. The Sabres produced an
astounding 27-15 quarter, tipping the tables entirely on the game. Kelsey
Ireland thought she had kept the margin to three points at the final break,
sinking one from behind the arc with seconds remaining; however Caroline
Burgess brought the house down with a magical half-court launch on the buzzer
to put Sturt back in front by 6 at the final change! (59-65)
The Flames came out firing, although a three-point shot from
Lucy Spalding put the Sabres in a commanding position, as they lead by 10
points with seven minutes to play. However some terrific basketball from Good
and Lewis brought Norwood back into the contest, squaring the game up with just
two minutes to go, and leading by three points with only 4 seconds remaining.
The final pass in from the sideline for Sturt found Kate
Gladstone, and standing three metres from the three point arc, she swished an
incredible shot on the buzzer to take the game into overtime with the scores at
80-80!
A one point lead was bounced back and forth between both
teams in the overtime period as they exchanged goals at each end, before
Novosel came to the rescue once more with 13 seconds left to put the Sabres in
front. Norwood had the chance to win the game with the final two possessions,
but they were both no good and Sturt scraped across the line in what was an
epic nail-biter for the ages!
Natalie Novosel contributed a spirited 34 point performance,
assisted by Richards and Spalding who finished with 15 points each. Boothy and
Lewis amounted 24 and 25 points respectively, while Good brought down 14
rebounds along with 12 points. But as for Norwood, it just wasn’t enough, as they
fall to their first loss of the season, and their first in 31 games – a record
which will stand as one of the greatest in the competition’s history.
