Norwood Flames win Women's Grand Final
The Norwood Flames have won their first premiership since 2000, defeating the North Adelaide Rockets 87-67 in the Central ABL women’s Grand Final at Adelaide Arena on Saturday.
Leading 23-21 at quarter-time, the Flames, with Coach Simon Pritchard back on the bench, gained the ascendancy over the next 20 minutes, outscoring the Rockets 22-10 in the second quarter and 23-12 in the third.
Early in the fourth, the Flames led by as much as 26, before the Rockets gave the game a bit of life, pressing their way back to 55-72 with 6.56 remaining.
However, the Flames would not be denied for a second year running, with Amy Lewis and Jess Foley taking charge to ensure there would be no final quarter comeback.
Lewis finished as the Grand Final MVP, torching the Rockets for 26 points on 10/21 shooting and 4 assists.
Foley added 20 points and 5 rebounds and Kelsey Ireland scored 11, while Rachel Herrick not only produced 10 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, but made Rockets star Jamie-Lee Peris work for everything inside.
Peris still finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds, but also turned the ball over six times and had very little impact on the game.
Jo Hill was a standout for the Rockets with 24 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks, while drawing 12 fouls.
Lauren Mansfield and Shannon McKay scored 9 apiece.
The Flames shot the ball at an excellent 46 per cent clip, while holding the Rockets to just 40 per cent – well down from their 48 per cent conversion rate when they beat the Flames two weeks ago.
The Rockets had 19 turnovers to 11, resulting in 13 extra points for the Flames.
The Flames also pounded the boards hard, pulling in 42 rebounds to 33.
This was only North’s second loss in their last 19 games, having made a run to the Grand Final with a 9 point Qualifying Final victory over Forestville and a 5 point win over Norwood in the Semi Final.
It was not the Rockets’ night, however, with Norwood recovering from a late season form dip to produce a 25 point turnaround from two weeks prior to claim the championship.
James Woite
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