By James Woite

MEN:Lethal Lycett leads free-flowing Flames past Panthers

The Norwood Flames were too fast for the South Adelaide Panthers in the open court, recovering from a thrilling loss to the Bearcats the previous night with a 90-61 win at Adelaide Arena.

The Panthers had no answer for Matthew Lycett, who finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds.

Lycett had plenty of help from his teammates though, with the Flames producing an excellent team effort to combat the 29 points and 12 rebounds produced by Panther import Jeremy Smith.

Andrew Webber was strong at both ends, finishing with 12 points, 9 rebounds, 6 steals and 4 assists.

Undersized big men Jack Jennings and Keith Krause combined for 20 points, but the scoring did not tell the whole story. Whoever was on the court had the responsibility of dealing with Bradley Reid, one of the league’s best post players. Jennings and Krause held the big Panther to just 8 points, and caused him to pick up four fouls inside the first 16 minutes of the game, meaning the Panthers were robbed of the rim protection they so badly needed.

After running reigning premiers Woodville to within seven points the previous night, the Panthers got off to a decent start, getting the Flames into foul trouble and trailing by just two points at the end of the first quarter. Despite the closeness on the scoreboard, it was apparent the Flames’ transition game was causing the Panthers trouble, with the Flames even managing a couple of fast-break layups following Panther baskets.

As the game wore on, the Flames made the pressure tell, extending their lead quarter-by-quarter.

Despite being the smaller team, the Flames finished with 10 more rebounds than their opponents. With 15 points left at the line from their 27 free throw attempts, it was only the individual brilliance of Smith that kept some respectability on the scoreboard for the Panthers.

 

 WOMEN: Foley’s brilliance at forefront of Flames’ big win over Panthers

In the first neutral match of the Premier League, the Flames ran out 80-53 winners, with Jess Foley unstoppable - even from the defensive foul-line.

The Panthers had made a late first quarter run to close to within seven points, before the ball deflected out of court with 1.2 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Calling time-out would not have made any difference at this point of the game (advancing the ball to the offensive three-point line only applies to the fourth quarter), meaning the Flames had to inbound the ball from behind their defensive backboard.

No chance of a score – well, Foley had other ideas.

Foley received the ball around the defensive foul-line, took one dribble, and threw up a shot that looked like one of those Hail Mary passes the NFL Quarterbacks throw when their team is within a touchdown of victory, but seconds away from losing. The ball floated through the air with a beautiful arc and landed in the hoop with nothing but net.

Within the first 10 seconds of the second quarter, Elizabeth Keane had the ball in the post. Anticipating the contact and a possible continuation call, she threw up a fade-away from the right baseline that managed to catch bits of the rim and backboard and somehow, also, find its way into the bottom of the net for a three-point play opportunity.

The baskets from Foley and Keane were not what would be considered high percentage shots, yet they were the catalyst for the Flames running up a 20 point lead three minutes into the second period. Despite the best efforts of Jessica Mahony (17 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 steals) and Mollie McKendrick (11 points, 7 rebounds), the Panthers never recovered, finishing on the wrong end of a blowout for a second successive night.

Foley registered 18 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals. She had plenty of assistance from Rebecca Duke (17 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks), Marisa Stabile (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Taylor Ortlepp (12 pts, 4-7 3FG, 5 rebounds).

The Flames dominated every major statistical category, with the exception of turnovers, as they gave the ball away 27 times to the Panthers’ 16. The Mars side now has two victories by in excess of 20 points, having accounted for the Bearcats the previous night.