Hoop Addict
Years ago
Sturt down Norwood - Twice!
In tonight's reverse-order games, Sturt men defeated Norwood 118-97 & the Sabres women cruised to a 68-50 victory.
In the guys game, Darren Ng shot the lights out, hitting 44 points on 16/28 FGs (including 6/11 3s). Hit some very tough shots with D in his face, though also had his fair share of easy looks when Norwood's defence lapsed. Smylie was also very impressive in the absence of Oscar, scoring 29 points & pulling down 12 boards (had 54.5 HSA if I calculate correctly). Seemed to find ways to score all night, whether it was bask to the basket, or facing up. Gower, P. Bauer, Dodman, Shepherd all played their roles & did a few nice things. Sturt set the tone early with 3 or 4 nice backdoor cuts to be up 30-18 at 1/4 time. From there they extended their lead at every break to run out 21 point winners. I thought Cooper was out-classed by Smylie, and it's painfully obvious he's incapable of creating his own shot, even at ABL level. Keith Krause made a living hitting open shots when Sturt's D collaped, and finished with 21 points. Andrew Webber had a good all-round game with 10 points, 6 rebounds & 10 assists, while Todd Matthews tried hard & penetrated well, though most of his 17 points came in garbage time.
The girls game was a bit of a see-saw affair in the opening quarter. Sturt jumped the Flames to lead 11-2 after scoring off silly Norwood turnovers. The Flames then evened it up before Sturt went on another run to finished the quarter leading 23-13. The 2nd quarter was relatively even before a very ugly 3rd quarter resulted in 15 (11-4 Sturt) points total between the two sides. From there Sturt cruised to an 18 point win. Jess McPhail possibly had her best game as a senior, scoring 16 points & gathering 5 boards in 20 minutes. Monique & Brigid Bowley made up for the absence of Hannah, by snaring 12 & 16 points respectively, while Monique also added 18 tough reboundson her way to 47 HSA. No one particularly stood out for Norwood, with Jess Smart, Natalie hurst & Kellie Abrams sharing the scoring honours with 10 apiece. I thought Nicole Romeo did quite well in her time, while Rachel Keller had a tough time finding the hole, shooting 2/14 from the field.
I think Sabres fans should be happy with two solid wins tonight, despite both sides missing key personnel.
