The Forestville Eagles have become the first team to defeat Norwood in 2011, thanks to a 72-66 victory at Wayville on Saturday.

A fast-paced game was exactly what the Eagles needed against the feisty half court defence of the Flames, and in the first half, that was exactly what they got, scoring 50 points to 34.

The game slowed down in the second half which suited the Flames, who kept Forestville to just 24 points after the major break.

However, they could only put on 32 themselves, falling six points short.

Mid-season recruits Carla Borrego and Monica Bello each continued their impressive form as the Players of the Game.

Borrego scored 20 of her game-high 26 points in the first half, before being limited because of foul-trouble in the second.

She shot 10/13 from the field and 6/7 from the foul-line, as well as adding 7 rebounds and 3 blocks. 

Bello had 16 points to half-time and finished with 22 for the game.

Her 22 points came at 57% from the field, and she also made five three-pointers.

In addition, Bello had four steals, three rebounds and three assists, while turning the ball over only once, showing great poise down the stretch.

Georgia Minear had 10 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, while Jess Fergus attacked the ball with tenacity and did a great job defending Flames star Jess Foley, holding her to 33% shooting and 4 turnovers.

Fergus finished with 5 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals, but she had a far greater impact than her numbers suggested.

For Norwood, Foley, who played the entire game, finished with 20 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals.

Kelsey Ireland 13 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists as the only other Flame in double-figures.

Jordan Walker-Roberts scored 9 points, including the last five for her team, while Stephanie Talbot also had 9.

The absence of Nadeen Payne, who is averaging 16.4 ppg at 54%, really hurt Norwood offensively.

This was the seventh game Payne has missed this year.

As a team, the Flames had 13 more field goal attempts, but shot just 31% from the field and turned the ball over 18 times.

Forestville also registered 18 giveaways, but connected on 47% of its field goal attempts and 8/20 threes.

Bello connected on a trey 20 seconds in and the Eagles led for the rest of the game.

That was one of her three tri-factors of the period.

Forestville made five as a team, with Minear knocking down the other two.

In the first quarter alone, the Eagles had five offensive rebounds, which resulted in 10 points, while Norwood had six offensive boards that led to six points.

At quarter-time, Forestville led 26-22.

In the second, it was total domination from the Eagles.

Borrego outscored the Flames on her own, posting 15 points, along with 2 boards and 2 blocks.

The rest of the Eagles did a sensational job of getting the ball up the court quickly so as Borrego could go one-on-one with her opponent, rather than allowing their opponents to get back and get their help set.

Other than a couple of fast break layups from Foley, Norwood was unable to get anything going offensively and did not look like scoring.

Forestville scored 14 points to zero in the last 3.46 of the quarter to enter half-time leading 50-34.

In the third, however, the visitors turned the tables on the home side to get themselves right back in the game.

The Eagles went two from two from the field inside the first minute, but only scored five points in the final nine minutes.

With Borrego off on four fouls, Forestville could not get anything going inside, and turned the ball over six times, including three in three possessions at one stage.

The Flames did most of their damage from outside the paint, with Ireland knocking down a three, Rachel Herrick hitting a corner jumper, and then Foley scoring the last six points of the quarter with back-to-back threes.

With 10 minutes remaining, Norwood had closed to within 51-59.

After one basket either way, Bello drilled a trey to give the Eagles an 11 point lead with just over seven minutes to go.

However, Ireland answered right back with a three of her own and then Foley scored soon after, getting the Flames within six.

That was the closest they had been since the second period.

Borrego was quickly inserted back into the game and following a whole minute with no score either way, Fergus hit a massive triple to give Forestville some much-needed breathing space.

A hoop from Borrego increased the lead to 11 and the Eagles looked home, yet Norwood was still not done with.

The Flames had three offensive rebounds on their next possession, with Talbot eventually converting while absorbing a foul from Bello, before converting the foul shot.

The foul was Bello’s fourth, meaning she would join Minear, Borrego and Fergus as being one foul from disqualification.

Walker-Roberts then scored a three and a two in consecutive possessions, getting Norwood within 66-69 with 1.39 remaining.

The Flames continued to get stops, but despite four attempts at closing the gap, they could not find the bottom of the net.

With 19 seconds remaining, Bello stepped up to the foul-line with the score still 69-66, and made one of two free throws, making it a two-possession game.

An errant pass from Foley ended all hope of a Norwood comeback, as Borrego knocked down two of two for the final score.

Forestville verdict: The Eagles bounced back nicely after last week’s disappointment at Pasadena, and have now won seven of nine. With three matches to play, Forestville is one game and head-to-head behind West, but has a much better schedule than the Bearcats. West is still to face Norwood and Sturt a second time, as well as the Tigers, while the Eagles have the Mavs, Lions and Rockets. Regardless of where they finish up, if the Eagles’ best players can stay out of foul trouble, they will be a team no one wants to play come finals time.

Norwood verdict: The Flames showed some signs of vulnerability in this one. In a half court game, Norwood is as strong as they come, as evidenced in what was an excellent second half. However, when the game was played at a high tempo, the Flames struggled for pace. This match also illustrated Payne’s importance to the team as a second scoring option to Foley, as points were hard to come by all night. Norwood still has a minor chance of dropping to second, but would have to lose at least three of its last four games, which are against the Warriors, Lions, Panthers and Bearcats.

By James Woite