Rnd 5: Rockets Men run out of fuel against Flames

By Kieren Vartuli

Norwood 86 | North Adelaide 70

The reigning champions hosted the North Adelaide Rockets in an intense round 5 fixture last Saturday night. Norwood were looking to build their winning streak to 3 while the Rockets were gazing a victory to bounce back after last week’s loss to the Southern Tigers.

From the opening tip, the champions applied the pressure with a successful 3-point play to start the game. From this they were able to go on a 6-2 run in the first couple minutes but both sides were playing excellent transition early on, allowing a fast paced clash. After struggling from the field early, the Rockets found some consistency and finished the first term down 3 after a successful final play from Norwood.

Coming out of the first break, both sides were trading buckets and it was an exhilarating one-point game. After a 3-point play by North Adelaide’s Luke Pike the game was all tied up at 22 apiece. This didn’t worry Norwood as they pushed the ball in transition very well and found some nice open baskets giving them a 5-point cushion with 4.50 left in the half. Both sides demonstrated some fantastic passing as they were moving the ball around very well with pinpoint accuracy.

After Norwood’s lead extended, North Adelaide import, Cody Rhorer assisted bringing it back down to 3 points after a few nice plays. He showed some quick hands with the steal and finished the play with a comfortable layup off the glass igniting a fire within his team. After Rhorer getting another bucket to bring it to 3 (finished with a season high 19 points), the Rockets were able to tie the game up again at 36-36 thanks to an ‘and one’ by Brad Jonnek (finished with 15 points). In the last play of the half Norwood were able to keep the lead by nailing a big 3 on the buzzer leaving the score at 39-36.

North Adelaide flooded the key to force an outside shot but this was not a problem as the champions were incredibly sharp from 3-point land. Norwood’s excellent accuracy allowed them to run away with an 18 point lead coming into the final term.

Coming out of the third quarter break, it appeared North were making a strong push for the comeback win. This was seen by a few big plays on both ends of the floor including a flashy no-look pass from Thomas Rowe to Adam Schild for the beautiful turnaround jumper. With the margin only 14 with over 4 minutes remaining it appeared possible. Unfortunately, the Flames were able to keep their lead out of harm’s way with a strong finish led by Ian O’Boyle’s game high 27 points giving them the 16 point victory.

In a post-game interview, North’s import, Cody Rhorer talked about what the team needs to focus on for their next game.

“Transition defence, we got hurt bad with that this week…and closing out their shooters, we had a guy tonight go 7 for 11 [Norwood] and we couldn’t do anything about it. That’s something we need to improve on.”

Round 6: Friday, 22 April 2016 @ 8.15pm

Norwood Flames v Central Districts Lions at Starplex

North Adelaide Rockets v Forestville Eagles at Hillcrest


ANZAC DAY ROUND: DETAILS HERE.




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