Men's Elimination Final Review - Forestville v North Adelaide

By James Woite

Some superb 4th quarter shooting from Eagles super-sub Nick Blair, coupled with 30 points from Riley Luettgerodt and another stellar all-round game from Scott Arnold, has guided Forestville to an 86-76 victory over North Adelaide. Blair finished with 18 points in just over 16 minutes, along with 7 rebounds and 2 steals, as the Eagles kept their season alive. The win was Forestville's seventh from their last eight games, giving them plenty of momentum ahead of yet another finals match-up with Norwood in their first Semi-Final on Saturday night. Pero Vasilijevic had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Rockets, who suffered just their second away loss of the season. Tom Rowe, Matthew Lycett, Michael Zorich and Brett Collins also finished in double figures, but it wasn't enough to avoid a second consecutive first week elimination. Considering second spot was well within their grasp only a month ago, the Rockets will be disappointed with the way their year ended, finishing the season with four consecutive losses.

After scoring 12 last quarter points in his team's 85-77 win in these teams' previous encounter, Eagles Guard Adam Doyle was relegated to the bench in place of the returning Scott Arnold. Despite their personnel change, Coach Andy Simons again employed a 2-3 zone, with the aim of limiting the impact of North big men Nick Hambour and Pero Vasilijevic. Arnold had an immediate impact on the game, setting up Doug MacDonald-Taylor for the game's opening field goal. Michael Zorich scored the first five points for the Rockets, including an unexpected 3-pointer, as the game stayed close throughout the early going. North took the lead for the first time with 3.59 to go in the quarter, after Zorich hit another 3-pointer for a 16-13 advantage. A quick-fire 9-1 got the Eagles out to a five point lead, before the teams traded blows in the lead-up to ¼ time, where Forestville held sway 25-21.

The Eagles began the second quarter the better, scoring 7 of the quarter's first 8 points to gain a double digit advantage. Arnold, Luettgerodt and Blair all scored during the run, whilst the Rockets weren't able to get any inside shots, instead forcing up long 3-pointers. Despite being well overmatched in height, Forestville were doing well on the boards, allowing them to get out and run the ball. However, after going just 2-17 from beyond the arc in their loss to Sturt last week, North started to get some long bombs to drop, clawing back to trail 34-35 with 3.28 to go in the half.  By half-time, the Eagles had steadied; a Riley Luettgerodt buzzer-beater giving the home side a 41-36 half time advantage.

Forestville began the second half the same way as the first; Scott Arnold setting up Doug MacDonald-Taylor for an easy basket. Michael Zorich then hit another 3-pointer, his third of the night (a season-high). The Eagles continued to get the better shots, but 3-pointers late in the shot clock from Pero Vasilijevic and Matthew Lycett kept the Rockets alive. Lycett continued to knock down shots (9 points for the quarter), drawing North level at 56-56 with 3.21 to go in the quarter. The teams remained neck and neck throughout the final three minutes; a Nick Blair 3-pointer giving Forestville a 63-60 ¾ time advantage.

The stage was set for a thrilling final quarter, with nothing between the two sides and a Semi-Finals place up for grabs. Just as they did when the teams last met, Forestville burst out of the blocks to start the fourth, scoring four quick points within the first 90 seconds, and North Coach Tracy York quick to call a time-out. After Adam Doyle dished off to Blair for a lay-up, the Eagles were out to a 69-60 lead, and the Rockets were in all sorts of trouble. Tom Rowe came up with a banked 3-pointer to cut the gap to six, before two missed free throws by Rhys Elliott were punished by another bomb from Blair. Vasilijevic knocked down another shot-clock beating 3-pointer, before Blair caused more havoc for the Rockets' zone with yet another long distance connection, and having now scored 11 points in the space of about four minutes. There would not be another field goal for over two minutes, as North continued to bomb away from downtown, and the Eagles picking up several key offensive rebounds.

When the next field goal did come, with 4.24 to go, again it was Blair with the connection, this time a long two that gave Forestville a 77-67 lead. After Andrew Geer knocked down a three with 3.09 to go, the lead was back to single-figures, giving the Rockets a vague glimmer of hope. However, Scott Arnold quickly sunk any hopes of a comeback. After scoring to push the lead back out to eleven, Arnold forced a turnover that resulted in a Brad Gerlach steal. After rebounding Gerlach's miss, Arnold then added another two, giving the Eagles an 83-70 advantage with 2.07 to go and the game all Forestville's. The lead blew out to as much as fifteen before North added some respectability to the scoreboard, which finished 86-76.

The Eagles have been knocked out of the finals race by the Flames in each of the last two years, after appearing to have the game won on both occasions. Whether or not they can turn the tables this year remains to be seen, but Forestville did beat Norwood two weeks ago (minus the in-form Scott Arnold), and could not be in better form. Meanwhile, the Flames have won just two of their last six, after going down to Sturt on Saturday night. However, previous results will mean nothing come Saturday night when the score starts 0-0, with the winner to advance to the Preliminary-Final to meet the loser of West and Sturt.


 




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