Men’s Norwood Flames vs South Adelaide Panthers
The Norwood Flames (7-9) still have some belief they can make their way into the postseason and are fighting every single game to give themselves the best chance to do so. A tough game is presenting itself against the South Adelaide Panthers (13-3), a team which is competing to finish the season on top of the ladder.
Riley Harrap opened the game with a quick triple and South Adelaide answered with a 6-0 run. The entire Norwood starters were aggressive from the start, highlighted by Cooper Osborne with 7 early points. The game was tied after 6 minutes, both teams scoring effectively at all 3 levels. South Adelaide picked up their defence and went on a devastating 10-point run. Norwood tried to answer before the quarter end, but the siren went, and Norwood was down 8, 31-23.
Norwood started the second quarter hot, starting 9-3 and controlling the game with their offence. The Flames were bringing the game back into contention well, Alex Dodson made a tough finish to bring the game back to 3 points. South Adelaide remained composed and didn’t allow the push to phase them. The Flames kept the pressure on and their defence started to pick up towards the end of the quarter. Both teams were extremely defensive-focused over the last 2 minutes as both squads were forcing errors by being aggressive on the ball. The half came to a close, Norwood trailing, 49-44.
The defensive focus seen at the end of the first half was carried into this period. Both teams were playing physical defence, forcing tough shots. Norwood did a good job of making the opposing ball handlers uncomfortable, making South Adelaide rush shots and limiting their ability to run successful offences. Unfortunately, the defensive intensity wasn’t enough to close the gap or bring Norwood into the lead due to the Panthers’ equally impressive defence, in combination with tough shot-making from their star scorers. The extremely competitive quarter came to a close, with Norwood behind, 64-57.
5 quick points brought the Flames back to only a 2-point deficit before South answered. Norwood remained composed and were able to keep their offensive momentum, answering all of the Panthers’ scores and bringing the game back to a single point. South Adelaide had back-to-back scores and forced a timeout from coach Tim Odell to try and compose the team heading into the final stretch of the game. Unfortunately, the timeout was a double-edged sword as both teams reset their mindsets and neither team was able to gain an instant advantage. South Adelaide continued to play strong on both ends and Norwood was only able to answer as the game closed, Norwood falling 83-77.
