North Adelaide Rockets (3-3, 6th) v Central District Lions (3-3, 5th)

The Central District Lions are on a two game winning streak, but their position inside the league’s top five could be under threat following the shock resignation of Tony Moore as coach.

In six matches, Moore had already won more matches as the Head Coach of the Lions’ CABL than any of Centrals’ recent previous coaches had mustered in a season or more.

However, Moore has left the team due to personal reasons, with a new coach yet to be named.

Their Round 7 opponents, the Rockets, bounced back from three straight defeats with a 78-50 win over bottom side Eastern.

North was far from convincing, requiring a 24-6 fourth quarter to put the game to bed, after trailing early.

Jo Hill was again on fire with 21 points and 11 rebounds, and is now averaging 17 ppg and 12.5 rpg on the season.

Jess Smart had her best game of the season with 15 points.

The Rockets will need to limit the impact of Desinta Cummins, Alisha Heglund and most importantly, Jess Mahony if they are to get a win this Saturday.

Cummins backed up her triple-double against Eastern with 18 points, 5 rebounds and 5 steals in the win over the Tigers in Round 6.

Heglund is averaging a team-high 13.6 ppg, while Mahony is half an assist shy of averaging a triple-double.

The star Point Guard is averaging 10 ppg and 11 rpg, and had 16 assists, 16 boards, 15 points and 3 steals against the Tigers.

In a team’s first game after a coaching change, things normally go as well as possible, or go pear-shaped.

With a leader like Mahony at the helm, it may well just be the former.

I believe the Lions will come out fired up, and ultimately get the edge in this one.

South Adelaide Panthers (1-5, 8th) v Sturt Sabres (5-1, 4th)

The South Adelaide Panthers have been competitive all season, but could not have asked for a tougher Round 7 opponent that a Sabres team on a five game winning streak.

At Marion on Saturday, the Panthers will have their work cut out to pull off their second win this year.

In their last match, South hung tough with the undefeated Bearcats, before being outscored 14-7 in the final period, en route to a 67-50 loss.

Elizabeth Keane starred with 22 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks, while Sarah Peddle scored 15 points.

This was the team’s biggest loss this season.

The Sabres, contrastingly, are having no trouble picking up victories.

Sturt has won its last 5 matches by an average of 42.6 points.

The most recent opponent buried by the Sabres was Woodville, who lost 98-29.

As a team, the Sabres shot 46.1 per cent compared to just 14.1 per cent, won the assist count 28-5, won the battle of the boards 67-28, and forced 24 turnovers.

At quarter-time of that match, the score was 32-2.

Despite being able to provide its key players with long rest, Sturt still had several players fill up the stat sheet, including Tess Madgen (29 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals), Monique Bowley (12 points, 13 rebounds) and Nicole Seekamp (19 points, 9 rebounds).

Right now, it is hard to see anyone getting up against the Sabres.

Expect the Sabres to pick up another big win on Saturday.

Woodville Warriors (0-6, 9th) v Norwood Flames (6-0, 1st)

There have been many boilovers in the CABL this year, but Woodville beating Norwood would have to be the biggest upset of all.

The winless Warriors have a mammoth task ahead of them when they take on the unbeaten Flames at St Clair on Saturday.

Woodville suffered a humiliating defeat in its last match at Pasadena, going down by 79 points to Sturt, after trailing by 30 at quarter-time.

The Warriors’ three best players, Ashleigh White, Ursula Richards and Vida Bojanic, combined for 13 points on 5-31 shooting, though White did at least provide 10 boards.

Brooke Rule top-scored with just 9.

Woodville has produced some competitive performances in its losses, but this performance was not one of them.

After bailing out in the first round of the finals last season, the Flames have started this season in tremendous form.

It all started when they came back from a double-digit deficit to beat Sturt in Round 1 (The Sabres’ only loss).

Last round, it was Forestville’s turn to feel the pain, with Norwood getting up 68-51.

Jess Foley had 24 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals, while 2010 Championship winner Kelsey Ireland had 15 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals against her former club.

Foley is averaging 17.7 ppg, 7.5 rpg and 3.3 spg.

Do not expect this to be much of a contest.

The Flames will pick up another big win and continue their unbeaten run.

Forestville Eagles (2-4, 7th) v Eastern Mavericks (0-6, 10th)

Megan Kermond will likely suit up for Forestville this week when the Eagles host the Mavericks.

Kermond, a member of Forestville’s 2009-10 premierships, returns home after spending time playing college basketball in the US.

This should provide an important boost to an Eagles side which has failed to reproduce its form of the last two seasons.

Forestville ranks fourth from the bottom, having lost its past three matches, albeit those losses have come against the top three sides (Norwood, West and Sturt).

However, save for a big third quarter run in the Sabres match, the Eagles have not looked in the contest in those games.

Jess Fergus continues to play hard and tough, averaging 15.3 ppg and 5.5 rpg.

Amazingly, 32 of the Eagles’ 74 free throws attempts have come off the fingertips of Fergus.

Georgia Minear has been shooting the ball well (43.2% FG, 48.4% 3FG, 81.8% FT), and is averaging a team-high 17.7 ppg.

However, Minear was held to just 14 points in Forestville’s most recent loss against the Flames.

The Mavericks are still yet to win a game, but showed improvement in their last match against North Adelaide.

Eastern actually led at quarter-time, and were within 10 at three-quarter time following its best 30 minute period of the season.

However, the Mavs scored just 6 points in the final period, and ultimately went down by 28.

17 year old Alex Wilson had 22 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks, while Tracey Beatty had a double-double (11 points, 12 rebounds).

This match poses a great opportunity for the Eagles to get back into some form.

They will win the game, but it will be interesting to see the sort of showing they provide.

Southern Tigers (4-2, 4th) v West Adelaide Bearcats (6-0, 2nd)

In the women’s Match of the Round, the Southern Tigers will have their work cut out to hold back the in-form juggernaut of the Bearcats.

West are flying after six rounds, sitting only percentage behind Norwood for top spot.

Nikita-Lee Martin had another sensational performance against the Panthers, scoring 21 points to go with 15 boards and 4 assists.

Kerrin Webber chipped in with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks, as the Bearcats easily accounted for the absence of Ashlea Vordermaier and Irene Sourlatzis.

The Tigers were ordinary in their last match, going down 74-59 against Central Districts.

Southern had only two more baskets than turnovers, and was outrebounded 52-38.

Teresa Kinross had a team-high 14 points, while Ashleigh Spencer had 12 points and 9 boards.

Although the Tigers sit fourth, they have not been overly convincing, with their four wins coming against the league’s bottom four sides.

In their last match against an undefeated side (Norwood), they got smashed 89-51.

Do not be surprised if Southern is on the end of another walloping; expect West to extend its winning streak with another comfortable victory. 

By James Woite