Eddie69
Years ago
BSA PL Semi Finals Review and Prelim Preview
The Semi Finals brought with it a close to the seasons of the Woodville Men and the Forestville Ladies.
Sturt held out a fast finishing Warrior outfit with a 2pt Nail Biting win. Issac White dominated for the Sabres and his only blemish came late in the game when he was called for an Unsportsmanlike foul on a rampaging Nelson Kirksey.
The Southern Tigers girls hit back hard against the Eagles, with good contributions from all of their Starting 5. Denelle Fawcett saved her best for the Eagles, who relied to heavily on Olivia Thompson and Samantha Defrancesco.
In the Men's 2nd Semi, Mitch Creek and Alex Starling put on a Master Class and Southern Tigers were by far, too much for the hard working Flames.
At the Furnace, Norwood and West played out in a dour contest that saw the Flames get home by 10. The Bearcats attack only managed 17 baskets and 23% FG shooting. Jess Foley made her comeback after 3 months on the sideline and was the steadying influence that got them across the line.
The last Chance for the big Dance this weekend as the same Qualifying Final combatants battle it out.
In the Ladies, West Adelaide Bearcats will host Southern Tigers and at Marden, Norwood and Sturt Men will go one more round.
Southern weren't at all ready when they hosted West in Week 1 of Finals. It will be interesting to see what the Tigers learned from that encounter. When West travelled down to Morphett Vale two weeks ago, few would've thought they could win and even less with the ease that they did. Now they have earned a home final, can the use that to their advantage? Tim Brenton has a good mix of youth and experience that he can call on. If the Lady Bearcats can overcome the nerves and now the weight of expectation they didn't carry into the Qualifying Final, they could get another shot at Norwood. The proverbial Rocket that Tracy York fired up the backsides of her players certainly helped against Forestville, but can they replicate that dominance this week? The Southern Tigers first Floor 5 will need set the tempo and stamp their authority early to quell the vocal home court supporters.
Norwood Men's ageing legs might be up against it this week with the young Sabres. Sturt barely missed from the Charity Stripe (25 from 28) against the Warriors and Daniel Johnson, apart from grabbing a few boards, had a relatively low impact in the 1st Semi. Paul Rigoni has some exciting and talented Sabre players at his disposal who will need to be at their best, but they have some good looking cattle in the yard for this muster. If David Cooper uses all of his Norwood players as attacking weapons, especially A Webber, rather than trying to negate the influence of Issac White, Jacob Rigoni and Johnson, they will go a long way toward securing victory.
For what its worth, both of these games will be good contests with worthy opponents and all supporters should get along for a close up encounter with some fantastic players.
