West Adelaide Bearcats (7-1, 2nd) v Norwood Flames (7-1, 1st)

The West Adelaide Bearcats and Norwood Flames face off this week in the Match of the Round; a fixture that could go a long way to deciding the Minor Premiership.

This match has a 6.30pm start, with the women commencing at 8.15pm.

The Flames lead the league with a 7-1 record, with its only loss coming by a point to Forestville.

The Bearcats are sitting second, but have an identical 7-1 record, and are behind on percentage only.

The Warriors are the only team to beat West this season.

The last time the Flames and Bearcats met, Norwood Coach Brad Davidson was lining up for West in the 2010 Preliminary Final.

In that match, West overcame a late charge from Norwood to move on to the Grand Final.

The Bearcats’ line-up has changed a lot since then, while the Flames have a very familiar feeling.

However, West’s two best players this season are new to their CABL side.

Jeff Dowdell had 26 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists in last week’s win at Sturt.

Dowdell is averaging 25 ppg and 12 rpg on the year.

David Nurse scored 19 in Round 8, and is averaging 17.4 ppg and 5.9 rpg this season.

Nurse has also made 22 three-pointers, which ranks third in the league.

Both teams have massive starting front-lines, with each team’s starting Power Forward and Centre having played for the 36ers at some stage.

Dowdell will partner up alongside Blake Truslove, while Norwood has David Cooper and Nick Hambour at the helm.

Cooper and Hambour combined for 19 points and 22 rebounds in the Flames’ win against South in Round 8.

However, if West is to get the win, it will need to shut down Norwood’s backcourt of Todd Matthews and Andrew Webber.

The two are averaging a combined 29.3 ppg, 12 rpg, 8.2 apg and 2.6 spg.  

This one could go either way.

My tip is Norwood, but only just.

South Adelaide Panthers (3-5, 8th) v Eastern Mavericks (3-5, 7th)

The Panthers and Mavericks meet on Saturday, with neither currently in the best of form.

South has won just one of its last five matches, while Eastern has lost three of four.

In Round 8, the Panthers went down 60-74 at Norwood, with Mitch Creek (21.4 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 4.7 apg) absent.

The Mavericks dropped a home fixture with Woodville 84-90, despite Brad Hill, Ben Madgen and Aaron Bruce scoring 65 points between them.

However, Eastern shot just 33% from the field as a team, and gave up 50 rebounds to 36.

The Mavs’ up-tempo game is exciting when it works, but when it does not come off, they are extremely vulnerable, as they are not a strong defensive team.

Eastern will have its hands full stopping South Centre Daniel Johnson, who is averaging 23.5 ppg, 10.5 rpg and 3.3 bpg.

This should be a high-scoring and free-flowing encounter.

For the winner, it could mean a rise back into the top five.

For the loser, it is a long road back to finals contention.

Creek will again be absent, so I feel the Mavs will be too strong and score a vital win.

Woodville Warriors (4-4, 5th) v Central District Lions (1-7, 10th)

The Woodville Warriors will be hoping to cement their place in the top five when they host Centrals on Saturday.

In Round 8, the Warriors beat the Mavericks on the road by six, thanks to 27 points and 6 boards from new import Colin Matteson, and 17 points from Cameron Wilson.

The Lions went down 90-103 against Forestville last week.

39 of those points were scored by Josh Kollasch, who produced an incredible individual display.

However, season-leading scorer Daniel Carlin scored just four points.

If Woodville can keep Kollasch in check, then it should win easily, but if Kollasch heats up, then anything could happen.

Still, the Warriors have been impressive over their first eight matches, and this is one they should not drop.

I reckon Woodville will get up and move above .500.

Forestville Eagles (6-2, 3rd) v North Adelaide Rockets (4-4, 4th)

The Eagles and Rockets meet at Wayville on Saturday, in a battle between two of the hottest teams in the competition.

Forestville has won its last three matches, which included a victory over league-leaders Norwood.

Last week, the Eagles beat Centrals by 13 points, thanks to 28 points from Brad Sullivan and 27 from Rashad Tucker, who finished just two assists shy of a triple-double.

On the other hand, the North looked gone after Round 4, where it sat 0-4.

However, upset victories over Sturt and Eastern have turned the Rockets’ season around, and they have now won four straight.

In Round 8, North trailed the Tigers 19-31 at quarter-time, before outscoring them 74-27 the rest of the way for a stunning 93-58 victory.

Six players scored in double-figures, led by Brandon Brine’s 16, who also added 9 rebounds, 6 blocks and 3 steals.

The last time Forestville met North was in the 2010 Elimination Final, where the Eagles won to advance to the Semis.

The Rockets have been in great form, but on paper, Forestville appears to have the edge, so I will go with the Eagles to win this one.

Southern Tigers (2-6, 9th) v Sturt Sabres (3-5, 8th)

The Southern Tigers host the Sabres on Sunday, with both teams coming off disappointing weekends.

At quarter-time, the Tigers looked to be headed for an upset victory over North, after leading by 12 points.

However, they fell asleep in the last three quarters, and ended up suffering an embarrassing 35 point defeat.

Marcus Robinson was the game high-scorer with 18 points, while also adding 7 rebounds.

The last time Jacob Holmes was in the line-up, the star forward produced a triple-double, and Sturt defeated the Warriors 92-61.

However, that was in Round 6.

In the last two games, the reigning champs have dropped matches against South and West.

Against the Bearcats, the Sabres lost 72-83, largely due to a shocking second quarter, where they were outscored 26-12.

Darren Ng and Tom Daly combined for 37 points and 11 boards, but collectively shot just 13-39 from the field.

With the exception of their poor performance against Norwood in Round 2, the Tigers have been much stronger on their home floor, so they should go into the game reasonably confident.

Still, I think that regardless of whether Holmes is in or out, Sturt’s losing streak will come to a halt this week.

By James Woite