By Mark Halliday

WOMEN: Norwood v Forestville

The Norwood Flames registered a convincing win over the Forestville Eagles, defeating them 83-70 due to strong contributions on both ends of the floor by their starters at Mars on Saturday night.

The Flames hit the lead early with their excellent passing and by consistently catching the Eagles napping on a number of possessions.

Norwood's 17-5 lead halfway through the first quarter came off of a perfectly executed inside-out game, combining the long range shooting of Jess Foley and Taylor Ortlepp with the inside presence of Rebecca Duke and Jess Good.

The story was much of the same for Norwood as Forestville struggled to get any rhythm in their offence, off target passes and some quick hands by the Flames saw the lead jump out to 18 points towards the end of the half.

Norwood began the second half with an 8-2 run that saw the lead balloon out to 20 points less than four minutes into the quarter.

Hannah Lehmann (16 points) provided an offensive spark the Eagles desperately needed, making a pair of triples and getting a number of layups to drop and brought the lead down to 12 with 3:16 left in the third quarter.

However, the Flames proved to be too good and the Eagles' mistakes were costly. Foley caught Forestville asleep after a made basket when she threw a three-quarter court pass to Duke who took a couple of dribbles and made an easy layup.

Norwood's starters all played over 33 minutes each and put in some impressive stat lines. Foley finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and two steals. Duke scored 15 points to go along with eight rebounds, seven assists, four steals and two blocks while Good had 17 points and 11 rebounds.

 

 

MEN: Norwood v Forestville

A dominating third quarter by the Norwood Flames turned a closely fought match into a one-sided affair as they beat the visiting Forestville Eagles, 95-80 at Mars on Saturday night.

While Norwood was settling into a team game and holding a narrow lead, Forestivlle's Daniel Sims made numerous triples and difficult layups to keep the Eagles within striking distance.

Sims scored 19 of his 24 points in the first half. His made three-pointer following a tough euro step layup levelled the score for the first time in the opening quarter and Sims had every answer to the Norwood attack.

The highlight maker Sims continued his prolific scoring in the second as he dished to his teammates for easy scores. To end the first half, Sims drove to the basket and flicked the ball over his head to an open Jake Rios for two and Forestville only trailed by one point.

The Flames came out of the half and caught fire. Matthew Long started the quarter with the hot hand, scoring six quick points. Jack Jennings then got involved, splashing back to back triples and taking Norwood from one point ahead to 11 in three and a half minutes.

Shortly after, Ian O'Boyle started his assault from long range. O'Boyle made four threes in the second half, each receiving a louder roar from the Norwood crowd.

A steal by Jennings led to a Matt Lycett breakaway layup and pushed the lead to 20 and with Forestville unable to respond. O'Boyle's second three of the quarter came with 1:32 left and put the Flames up by a commanding 25 points.

A 31-11 Norwood advatage set them up for the win, as Sims couldn't contain his frustration. The Eagles' guard's temper got the better of him as he committed a hard foul on Andrew Webber and was ejected for his efforts.

Lycett (21 points, 15 rebounds, five assits), Long (10 points, 13 rebounds, two blocks), O'Boyle (16 points, 5-of-6 from three), Jennings (14 points) and Daniel Webber (13 points) all having solid contributions in the Flames victory.