Men’s Norwood Flames vs West Adelaide Bearcats
The Norwood Flames (7-8) need every win they can get if they want to be playing postseason basketball. Similarly, the West Adelaide Bearcats (8-7) are fighting to get better ladder positioning for the postseason. This desire to win from both teams should create an extremely competitive and entertaining game. Especially with both teams boasting effective offences, scoring at a high rate all season long.
The first possession of the game was an amazing defensive play from the Flames, drawing a quick charge which led to a score for Issac Miller-Jose. Issac started the game hot, scoring 6 of the Flames’ first 10 points as Norwood took an early 5-point lead forcing West Adelaide into a timeout. Norwood carried their momentum through the timeout, with Cooper Osborne and Jack Stanwix being standouts after the timeout. This offensive energy created defensive energy, which was too much for West Adelaide as the first quarter ended, Norwood up 24-16.
The Flames kept their energy up to start the second, being strong on both ends of the court. The offence was free-flowing, with every player getting involved and feeding off their defensive stops. The defence was intense but controlled, not gambling or over-extending but still pressuring the Bearcats into difficult possessions. Multiple times in the quarter the Bearcats threatened to go on a run, but the composure of the Flames kept them at bay. The consistent play in the quarter was enough to keep extending the lead as the Norwood Flames went into halftime up 48-33.
The third quarter was more of the same for the Flames. The team was controlled on both ends of the court whilst still keeping West Adelaide on the back foot. This impressive display of game control by both the players and coach created a solid 20-point lead in this quarter. Unfortunately, the Flames seemed to get a little relaxed after the lead hit 20 and the Bearcats quickly made them regret doing so. The Bearcats went on a 17-2 run in the last 3 minutes of the quarter which brought the game back to 5-points, 59-54.
West Adelaide’s run continued into the final quarter as they quickly took the lead for the first time since 2-3 in the first quarter. This lead was quickly extended to double digits as the game seemed to have completely flipped, with West Adelaide now in total control. Riley Harrap and Jack Hemphill tried their best to close the gap for the Flames but the damage had been done. The Bearcats momentum was too much and the game became out of reach by the end. The Flames ended up losing, 74-82.
