Woodville Warriors v Forestville Eagles
Sat, Apr 9, 6:30pm at St. Clair

Reigning champs Forestville will look to bounce back from their heartbreaking Round 1 loss when they take on Woodville at St Clair on Saturday night.

The Eagles trailed Southern by 10 at three-quarter time and 8 with less than two minutes remaining, before a barnstorming finish gave them a chance to tie or win the game. However, Georgia Minear’s tough drive bounced off the edge of the backboard, before two free throws from the Tigers’ Madeline Cunningham sealed the victory.

The Warriors also began Season 2011 on a sour note, going down away to North in a highly competitive game. Woodville outscored the Rockets 45-33 over the first and third quarters, but scored just 18 points to their opponent’s 38 over the second and fourth periods.
Forestville will again look for big production out of Minear (22 points), but will be hoping for a stronger output from Tara Robinson and Jess Fergus.

Jamie-Lee Bow and the much improved Alex Duncan also provide good options.

The Warriors’ three main scorers last week were Vida Bojanic, Ashleigh White and Ursula Richards, who combined for 42 of the team’s 63 points, however, only Bojanic shot the ball at a reasonable clip.

As a team, Woodville shot just 30 per cent from the field.

The Eagles shot the ball at just 40 per cent themselves, whilst conceding 16 turnovers.

Forestville’s weakness appears to be in terms of speed; for three quarters last week they looked a much slower side, before improving in the fourth.

On paper, the Eagles have an advantage, but being at home will give the Warriors hope.

I think Woodville are capable of staying close, but cannot see them getting over the line. Ultimately, the Eagles should prevail for their first win this year.

Sturt Sabres v Eastern Mavericks
Sat, Apr 9, 6:30pm at Pasadena

The Sturt Sabres have the perfect opportunity to account for last week’s disappointment when they take on a struggling Eastern Mavericks side in Round 2.

After a promising start to their encounter with Norwood, where they built an early 13 point advantage, the Sabres were overrun by the home side, going down 74-66.

The Mavericks’ match with West Adelaide was virtually over before it even began, eventually suffering a record-breaking 122-41 loss.

Eastern clearly missed 2010 Halls Medallist Tess Madgen, who will line up for their opponents on Saturday.

There is some good news for the club, however, with the signing of Tracey Beatty. The 202cm Canberra Capitals player will give the Mavs a much needed boost, though is unlikely to suit this week.

With Madgen, Caroline Burgess, Conor Holmes and others lining up for Sturt, the Sabres have a major edge in talent.

It is unlikely the Mavs will suffer as big a loss as they did last week, but the score will be purely academic, with the Sabres getting up easily in this one.

West Adelaide Bearcats v Central Districts Lions
Sat, Apr 9, 6:30pm at Port Adelaide

For the first time in many years, the Central District Lions are above the .500 mark.

However, their success will almost certainly be short-lived when they take on a red-hot West Adelaide Bearcats side at Port Adelaide this Saturday.

After trailing by double-digits with 10 minutes remaining in their opening match against South, the Lions stormed home with a 21-10 fourth quarter to win by a point.

Despite only 7 points (albeit 9 assists and 6 rebounds) from star player Jess Mahony, and 31 per cent field goal shooting, Centrals won their first game since July 2009.

Kimberly Olsen had a team-high 15 points, including a second-chance basket with seven seconds remaining that got her team home.

Meanwhile the ‘Cats, last year’s runner up, crushed Eastern by 81 points.

West scored 21 of the game’s first 22 points, and finished with a good spread of scorers, including 24 from Nikki-Lee Martin and 22 from Ashleigh Vordermaier. 

The Bearcats shot the lights out, going 66 per cent from the field.

If West have one weakness, it is in taking care of the ball, as they threw away possession 26 times last week.

The Lions will no doubt be revved up, but facing up to the Bearcats is a much different prospect to playing South. Expect West to pick up another big win here.

South Adelaide Panthers v North Adelaide Rockets
Sat, Apr 9, 6:30pm at Port Adelaide

The North Adelaide Rockets will be looking for a second consecutive victory when they take on South Adelaide this week.

In Round 1, the Rockets came from behind to defeat Woodville 71-63.

North received solid contributions from almost everyone in at least one key area last week, with Shannon McKay scoring 14 points and Jo Hill providing a double-double.

It was a different story for the Panthers, who threw away a comfortable lead to go down 55-54 to Centrals.

South registered only 21 made field goals on 33 per cent shooting, as well as just 11 assists, compared to 28 turnovers. They also failed to convert on 12 of their 22 free throw attempts.

The one shining light was Elizabeth Keane’s impressive stat-line of 22 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.

The Rockets have a major edge in talent, and appear to have too many options for last year’s second-to-bottom side.

South will be spurred on by coughing up last week’s game and will be much more comfortable back on their home court, but North should get the points pretty comfortably and make it two from two.

Southern Tigers v Norwood Flames
Sun, Apr 10, 1:15pm at Morphett Vale

The Tigers and Flames will both enter Sunday’s game in hope of retaining their 100 per cent start to the season.

Southern survived a brave comeback from Forestville to inflict a rare loss on the dual reigning champs.

The Tigers have options a plenty, with Madeline Cunningham, Ashleigh Spencer, Stephanie Gates and Gilly Hendrie all capable of providing important contributions.

In Round 1, the Tigers were excellent defensively, and they pushed the ball up the court very quickly, although their intensity did fade during the fourth quarter, where they were lucky to hold on for victory.

The Flames started slowly against Sturt, trailing 23-10 at quarter-time. However, they won the last three quarters, before getting home 74-66.

Kelsey Ireland and Jess Foley each put up big numbers for the Flames. Ireland scored 28 points on just 16 shots, as well as 4 rebounds, whilst Foley had 20 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.
There is recent history between these two sides, with Southern crushing Norwood by 20 points in last year’s Elimination Final.

The final scoreline will be much different this time around, after several key offseason changes between the two sides.

This one really is a toss of the coin, with both sides evenly matched. With home court advantage, I give my pick to the Tigers in a thriller.

By James Woite