Sabres and Flames Lead at Half-Way Point

Sturt women and Norwood men sit atop the Central ABL ladder at the half way point of the shortened 2007 season.

Reigning premiers Sturt sat out round 9 of the women's competition, more than satisfied with their 8 and 0 start to the season. Sturt are two games clear of West Adelaide, who in turn are a game clear of North and Southern.

The Sabres' coach Marcus Wong expects a tougher time of it in the second round, and acknowledges his team's good fortune to have hit West in their first game, North pre-Jo Hill and Norwood pre-Jess Foley. Even so, Sturt have done all that has been necessary to stay ahead of the pack, led by WNBL point guard Angela Marino, and a revitalised Hannah Bowley.

In the men's competition, Norwood's victory over North last week gave the Flames an 8-1 record, and put them a game clear of Forestville. The tussle for positions within the top 5 is tight, with North, West and Sturt tied for third place.

Todd Matthews is in scintillating form, averaging 17 points and 6 assists a game, but more importantly, leading his team when needed. Norwood's only blemish was a loss to a surging Forestville three weeks ago, the Eagles using this game to trigger a run which included a 49 point victory over Centrals, a 28 point win against West, a 74 point dismantling of Woodville, and a 63 point win against Southern, in which Brenton Campbell debuted with 28 points.

Expect North Adelaide to have a say in both the men's and women's competition finalists. Dusty Rychart returned to the US for a month, and arrived back in Australia for North's round 9 loss to Norwood. Jo Hill also joined the Rockets in round 9, after some time in Spain. Consistent lineups which include both Rychart and Hill should result in some marked improvement in the next 9 rounds.




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