WOW. What a night we were in for. All the emotions where there and we rode every one alongside the team. The same starting five were on and had a slow start. Forestville opened the scoring and as we tried to play close, tight defence, Tayla was rewarded with two fouls against her in the first two minutes! Finally Leah pushed through heavy traffic and was fouled and made one from two. Lauren left the bench and Kirsty made a great grab and ran fast and Sam made one from two of her foul shots and then Jo stole the ball, up and in! The foul count however was higher than the score; 4 : 3, with fouls: 5 : 4! Sophie and then Courtney joined the team and Sam scored a massive three! Taylor came on near the end of the quarter and after a tough battle, we were down; 15 to 18.

Leah, Lauren and Sophie scored and suddenly it was 22 all. Some great teamwork assisted Leah to score again and Jo passed to Tayla to pop one in. Kirsty continued to play strong defence and there was another scramble on the floor for another jump ball. Sam made a terrific shot , but Forestville still were leading at the long break, 32 to 37.

As the starting five were back on, the crowd cheered them on. A score for us took a while again, but Leah swished in a three and looked more focused. Fierce pressure caused some travels for both sides but Jo steadied the team and Kirsty made a great backwards layup. Each score brought the crowd more hope but our foul shooting was only one out of two so far, until Leah sunk 2 from two. Abi brought fresh legs onto the court and a determined look on her face. Despite Lauren throwing a smooth three and Jo making both foul shots and Courtney assisted Abi to make a terrific shot, we were still down but by 13. 51 to 64.

The pace and the pressure sure picked up as this quarter began and Forestville missed a shot and Lauren grabbed the rebound and Abi made the layup. Jo spoilt Olivia’s chance to shoot and Leah made another steal, passed to Lauren and Abi scored again! The crowd were excited, sensing a chance. As we shouted “C’mon girls!” The play was intense and there was another jump ball. Leah made a nice three and the crowd were on their feet. We missed a few shots though, and as time ticked on, we were feeling nervous. As Jo and Leah scored a two and three respectively, we were only down by 3! Abi threw herself into defence being fouled on and making one of the shots. The whole team were playing close defence along with the crowd chanting DEEEFENCE seeming like a sixth player. With 3.44 left on the clock, Tayla made a terrific layup bringing the scores level.

The crowd went crazy and continued strong defence from Jo caused Sam S to travel and Leah, Tayla and Abi scored again. Lauren never gave up and despite being squashed on the floor, had the foul called against her. But as the coach called a smart time out after Forestville scored, to advance the ball, we were 6 points up. With Jo’s steal and Tayla’s defensive rebound, Forestville saw the game slipping away as they missed jump shots. Leah finished off nicely with another layup and Tayla made one of her foul shots. As Leah took another rebound, the crowd got to their feet as we had made a 22 point turnaround to soundly win the game! So straight into the grand final for the Women’s hard working team that never gave, up believing that they could remain undefeated! Thank you to all the volunteers and supporters at North Adelaide, especially the men’s team tonight who led much of the chanting and cheering.

Our top scorers were: Leah 25pts Jo and Abi both with 9 pts. Top assists by Jo 5 and Leah with 4 and rebounders were Jo with 11 and Leah with 7

See you in red and white at the Arena in 2 weeks for the Grand Final!

April Johnston