Courtesy of James Woite

Superb performances from Doug MacDonald-Taylor and Scott Arnold have helped the Forestville Eagles to a 103-91 victory over a determined South Adelaide Panthers outfit at Marion on Saturday night. Despite being heavily undermanned due to the absences of Luke Hoban, Harri Harvey, Jordan Robertson and Charles Newland, along with a poor shooting night from star Riley Luettgerodt (who dislocated his finger in the second quarter, and finished with 16 points on 4 of 14 shooting), the Eagles took control in the final few minutes, thanks largely to the efforts of MacDonald-Taylor and Arnold at both ends of the court. Macdonald-Taylor finished with a season-high of 17 points to go with 11 rebounds and 5 assists, before fouling out with 1.43 to go. Arnold, who has now averaged 12.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 6.8 assists over the past six games, added 18 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals. Sammy Gazzo once again top scored for the Panthers with 23 points, but made just 9 of 34 field goals, as he was kept in check all night by Forestville guards Brad Sullivan and Brad Gerlach (14 points apiece). Brian Finniss added 22 points, whilst Lachlan Prest had a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. The win puts Forestville within reach of a home final, having now won five of their last six matches, whilst South remain eighth with just four wins.   

Forestville began the game with a bigger line-up, with Brad Sullivan and Brad Gerlach in the guard spots and Adam Doyle coming off the bench. The move paid dividends in the early going, with the Eagles bursting out of the blocks to hold a 9-0 advantage after the first two minutes and South Coach Jason Baylis already forced to call a time-out. Brad Sullivan was on fire with four points and an assist, as Forestville’s ball movement was easily outweighing the Panthers’ reliance on scoring machine Sammy Gazzo. 

However the introduction of Adam Blight into the game saw the game swing in South’s favour. Blight’s three-pointer within 11 seconds of him entering the game got the Panthers within 14-16, and their willingness to attack the ring and earn trips to the foul-line saw them lead by five with three seconds to go in the quarter, before Brad Sullivan’s buzzer-beating three-pointer cut the gap back to 28-26 at quarter-time. If not for the discrepancy in foul shot percentage (South shot 43% from the line compared to Forestville’s 78%), the Panthers’ lead could have been much greater.

The second quarter was a see-sawing quarter, with neither team able to break away from the other. Both teams scored twice within the first 55 seconds, before two quick baskets from Luettgerodt gave the Eagles back the lead. However, only moments later, Luettgerodt dislocated his finger whilst diving on the ball against three Panthers, forcing him to the bench. By the time Luettgerodt returned, South were back in front 40-39, and showing little sign of the team that copped a hiding from the Eagles on May 8. Luettgerodt picked up where he left off, finishing the term with eight points as the Eagles held sway 50-48 at half-time.

The third term saw Forestville look to gain the ascendancy, scoring all too easily at certain times. However, the Panthers, to their credit, fought hard, got to the foul line, and picked up some cheap points of their own. The two number 33s, Adam Blight and Doug MacDonald-Taylor, each made sensational plays to beat the shot clock on consecutive possessions, with Blight knocking down a fade-away from behind the backboard, before MacDonald-Taylor pump-faked and dribbled into his only three-pointer of the game. At three-quarter time, Forestville led 75-71, with neither Gazzo nor Luettgerodt able to exert their influence on the game in the way they would like. 

In the fourth quarter, once again the Eagles threatened to blow South away, pushing their lead out to eight with seven minutes to go, following a reverse lay-up from Scott Arnold. However, after a basket from Steve Pilkington off the offensive glass, the Panthers had closed to within five with just five minutes left. Unfortunately for South, when MacDonald-Taylor missed a point blank shot, it was Arnold who rose highest to pull in the rebound, dishing back to MacDonald-Taylor, who this time did not miss. Brian Finniss had the opportunity to get the margin back to four after scoring on a foul by Nick Blair, but missed the free throw, before Arnold rebounded his own miss at the other end and put the Eagles up by seven. From here-on, it was all Forestville, with Arnold and then Brad Gerlach scoring on lay-ups as South never again got as close as nine, and the Eagles rolling on to win 103-91.

With one game to go in the regular season, Forestville have returned to the sort of form that saw them in the top two for most of the first half of the season. The Eagles must win next week against bogey-side Norwood if they are any chance of securing a home final, whilst also relying on North to lose to Sturt. Based on the fact that Forestville have lost just twice away from home, and North’s only road loss was by one-point against top-placed West on Saturday night (after leading by seven with three minutes to go), it would appear that the away team would hold the advantage. However, as we have seen in previous years, regular season records mean nothing come finals time, whilst the home team almost always seems to get the win. In two weeks time, we will see if that same scenario applies to Forestville and North this year. Meanwhile, South are away to Centrals next week, and are guaranteed of finishing in eighth place.