By James Woite

The Forestville Eagles have ended their four game losing streak against Norwood with a thrilling 85-83 victory at Wayville. Despite only trailing for a matter of seconds the entire night, and holding sway by 15 points at three-quarter time, it took a sensational game winning shot with 2 seconds remaining from star Forward Riley Luettgerodt to get the Eagles over the line. Leading Norwood in the waning seconds has been a nightmare for Forestville the past two seasons, but this time they denied nemesis Andrew Webber the ball, forcing Todd Matthews into a desperate heave from well beyond the half-way line that was off the money. After being well held by Sam Grantham in the teams’ previous meeting, Luettgerodt, one of the favourites for this year’s Woollacott Medal, finished with game-highs of 38 points and 11 rebounds, as the Eagles won their sixth game from seven starts, earning them a home final against North Adelaide next week. Brad Sullivan was a solid contributor with 13 points, Nick Blair hit three second quarter three-pointers and finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds, whilst Doug MacDonald-Taylor registered 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists, whilst doing a superb job defending the much taller David Cooper (14 points, 7 rebounds).  Todd Matthews, whether in air or on the floor, was outstanding for Norwood with 17 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals, whilst causing havoc on numerous occasions which won extra possessions for his team. Keith Krause produced some amazing shooting in the final term to finish with 16 points on 7-11 shooting, whilst Webber was well-held by the collective tandem of Sullivan and Brad Gerlach, producing just 10 points along with 5 turnovers. The Flames’ loss has cost them second position and a home final, meaning the reigning champs will face last year’s runners-up Sturt at Pasadena on Saturday night.

After a stellar past six weeks, Forestville’s undersized big man Scott Arnold was absent from the line-up, meaning Norwood would have an even greater size advantage against the much smaller Eagles. As a result, Guard Adam Doyle returned to Forestville’s starting line-up, and had an instant impact, with a steal and lay-up in the opening seconds. The Eagles were red-hot early, scoring the first eight points of the game, forcing Flames Coach Rupert Sapwell into a time-out after just two minutes. After Corey Ottey finally got Norwood on the board, Riley Luettgerodt knocked down a three-pointer at the other end to give Forestville an 11-2 advantage. However, the introduction of Dan Thompson into the game sparked arrival from the Flames, with the big man scoring 6 of the game’s next 10 points to get Norwood back to within three points. Andrew Webber’s only three-pointer of the game tied the scores at 13-13, before Todd Matthews hit a three of his own to give the Flames their first lead of the night. At quarter-time, Norwood led 18-17, on the back of a 14-4 scoring run.

Just like the first quarter, but this time in a zone defence, Forestville burst out of the blocks in the second, with first Nick Blair and then Brad Sullivan hitting three-pointers, before Sullivan hit another long jumper to give the Eagles a 25-18 advantage. Ottey again gave Norwood their first points of the quarter, before a couple of assists from Matthews helped the Flames go on another mini-surge, cutting the gap to 32-28 with 5.24 remaining in the half. With Matthews substituted, Norwood stayed close, before his re-introduction saw Forestville go on a rampage in the final minutes of the half. The Eagles outscored the Flames 16-4 in the final 3.54 of the quarter, led by two more three-pointers from Blair and a couple of ripping plays from Luettgerodt. At half-time, Forestville led 50-34, and had all the momentum.

Norwood began the second half with a 3-2 half-court trap, whilst Forestville resorted to their traditional man-on-man defence. The Flames’ trap led the Eagles to turnovers and wide passes, and they resultantly scored the first six points of the half. Forestville refused to let up; a Brad Sullivan three-pointer steadying the ship, as the game’s intensity reached another level. The officials would be constantly forced to call floor-wipers on to the court to wipe up the sweat, due to an unusually large number of instances in which players would dive on the ball. This caused the game to heat up, with words exchanged from both teams. After a Webber basket cut the gap back to nine with 5.40 remaining in the quarter, the Eagles again steadied, with a Luettgerodt field goal and another Sullivan three-pointer pushing the gap back out to fourteen. After Brad Hayden knocked down a buzzer-beating jumper from the foul-line, Forestville had built a 70-55 three-quarter time advantage.

The start of the fourth was ultra-aggressive, with both teams picking up unsportsmanlike fouls, and Norwood getting into early foul trouble. When Nick Blair found Brad Hayden for another easy basket, Forestville were out to a 17 point lead. However, this would be the last basket that anyone other than Riley Luettgerodt would score for the Eagles, as the Flames made an inevitable surge. After butchering a risky pass, Todd Matthews produced some trademark hustle to win the ball back for the Flames, before scoring and drawing a foul in the process. Matthews’ basket got Norwood back to within 73-61 with 7.32 to go, and despite missing the free throw, Matthews and the Flames rolled on. A couple of three-pointers from Keith Krause, lay-ups from Sam Grantham and also Matthews saw Norwood cut the score to 75-71 with under five minutes remaining. 

Suddenly, the Norwood bench and the supporters who made the trip were really fired up, making more noise than their Forestville counterparts. Luettgerodt answered with a bucket off his own miss, before Krause popped up with two more. The object of the Flames’ defence was to deny Luettgerodt the ball, which predictably opened up opportunities for the other Eagles. However, missed lay-ups from Brad Gerlach, Adam Doyle and Seb Wise would have proved costly, if not for Norwood’s failure to make the most of their opportunities at the other end. A wide open three-pointer from Matthews failed to find the back of the net, along with an open lay-up from Grantham, before a turnover led to another Luettgerodt basket, giving Forestville a 79-73 advantage with 2.47 to go. 

The Flames were still not done with, as first Webber and then Matthews scored to cut the gap back to two points. Luettgerodt again gathered his own miss and scored, before Cooper rebounded his own miss and was fouled whilst converting on his second opportunity. Cooper missed the free throw, but Krause, who was proving to be a real nuisance, tipped the ball back in to tie the game at 81-81 with 1.44 remaining. After forcing a shot clock violation, Cooper missed on a shot which would have given the Flames the lead, before Luettgerodt’s step-back gave the Eagles the lead with just 43 seconds left. Forestville forced a crucial stop, however, a Brad Gerlach turnover gave Norwood back the ball with 15.2 seconds remaining.  

Following the ensuing time-out, the Eagles prevented Webber from getting open, but left the key-way open in the process, as Matthews drove hard down the right and drew a foul with 7 seconds remaining. After going 0/3 from the line, Matthews calmly slotted both free throws. Andy Simons called a time-out, before the ball inevitably was given to Luettgerodt. Under tough defence from Webber, Luettgerodt drove hard to the basket, pulling up from the block after the help defence came over, and banked in the shot. With no time-outs remaining, Norwood could not take the ball straight to the half-way line, and the best shot they could muster was a Matthews prayer which bricked off the backboard, giving Forestville an 85-83 victory in a sensational game of basketball.