North Adelaide Rockets v Forestville Eagles
Saturday July 26, 2008, 6:30pm at Hillcrest

	North Adelaide Rockets	Forestville Eagles
Minor Round Record	2nd – 13 wins and 5 losses	3rd – 13 wins and 5 losses
Head Coach	Mike McKay	Sharon Simons
Likely Starters	Lauren Mansfield Tania Dhu Ali Trewartha Jenah Piwanski Jo Hill	Jess Fergus Dee Ranford Jess Mahony Jacinta Govind Mia Newley
Top Scorer	Jo Hill – 14.6 ppg	Mia Newley – 16.8 ppg
Top Rebounder	Jamie-Lee Peris – 8.2 rpg	Mia Newley – 9.6 rpg
Top Assists	Lauren Mansfield – 3.7 apg	Jess Mahony – 5.3 ppg
Head to head	12/4/2008      North Adelaide 73 d Forestville 51 28/6/2008      Forestville 78 d North Adelaide 71

North and Forestville have had a strong healthy rivalry for most of the decade. The Rockets crushed the Eagles in the 2004 Grand Final, while Forestville returned the favour in 2005 when Dee Ranford put in a Paul Pierce-like effort, scoring 26 point on one leg.

Only 3 Forestville players (Ranford Tara Robinson and Mia Newley) remain from the 2005 team, while four of North’s likely starters (Lauren Mansfield, Tania Dhu, Ali Trewartha and Jenah Piwanski) were there three years ago.

The fifth, Jo Hill, is no slouch either. Her ability to score around the basket will be a huge factor in this game, given Forestville’s limited size. In their last matchup, she had 26 points at a solid 72%, and it was only 2nd half foul trouble that prevented her from doing even more damage. Stats aside, her strength and leadership bring so much to the Rockets each year, and with youngsters Lauren Mansfield, Jamie-Lee Peris and Jess Keller growing in experience, North are a legitimate title contender.

Mia Newley’s 2 year stint at the Australian Institute of Sport helped her mould herself as one of the ‘tute’s best all time 3 point shooters, but the undersized Eagles have been forced to utilise her and Jacinta Govind as inside defenders against the many taller opponents in the league. In attempting to curtail Hill’s impact, they will have their work cut out for them but 19 year old Newley, averaging almost 17 points per game, should significantly occupy the North defence at the other end of the court.

The backcourt battle will also be entertaining. Dee Ranford still has one of the best pullup jump shots in the game, and former Australian Junior Jess Mahony has been a big factor in Forestville’s return to form this year. Meanwhile for North, lefty leader Lauren Mansfield has a deadly change-of-pace, and Tania Dhu still hits big shots, at big times, in big games.

The game will feature 7 players with WNBL experience, at least 2 current or prospective US college players, and an Olympian. As the first half of a double header, expect the Launch Pad to be overflowing.