NBL1 Men Round 1 vs Woodville Warriors
Opening round of the NBL1 Central season sees the new look South Ave Norwood Flames Men (0 – 0) vs the Woodville Warriors (0 – 0). The Flames have an almost entirely new roster this season with high hopes of making some noise in the NBL1 Central league. Newcomers are numerous but the team is hoping for big contributions from imports Thomas Kurowski and Inady Legiste as well as some new locals in Campbell Scott and Chok Garang.
The scoring was opened by Thomas Kurowski, scoring off a transition layup off his own steal. The Flames intensity was high from the jump, especially defensively, as the Flames forced a lot of deflections early, getting a lot of stops. The stops weren’t translating to scores as ball security became a big weakness for Norwood early on. The high intensity defence from the Flames led to high fouls with Woodville entering the bonus with over 6 minutes left in the quarter. Norwood managed to stay out of foul trouble but as the bench came into the game the defence slipped a little and Woodville was able to get on a roll, gaining a 3-point advantage with 3 minutes left. This lead was quickly erased by a tough and-1 finish from Cooper Osborne. The Warriors ability to get easy points at the charity stripe kept the scoreboard ticking over for them while the Flames were working much harder for their points. A big shot from Campbell Scott made it a 1-point game before the siren rang, 18 – 19 at the end of the first.
The second started with Norwood taking back the lead on a strong roll from Oscar Sabine. A pump fake got his man into the air, then a drive along the baseline led to an electric dunk from Thomas Kurowski which forced Woodville into an early timeout. Woodville answered with a powerful transition dunk of their own but the Flames maintained their composure, especially on the defensive end. The offensive struggled continued for both teams with great defence on both ends forcing a lot of turnovers and high difficulty shots. The Warriors slightly edged out Norwood in transition gaining a slight advantage on the scoreboard. Woodville’s lead continued to grow as Norwood went on a 5-minute scoring drought before Joel Coffey found a way to take the lid of the basket with a strong finish at the ring. The Flames elite defence kept them close for the whole quarter and an offensive burst to end the half made it 34 – 38.
After shooting just 29% from the field in the first half the Flames are looking to right the ship and get their offence rolling coming out of halftime. Woodville was the team who started the third quarter hot going on an early 5-point run. Despite shots not dropping, the ball and player movement offensively was good, the boys just couldn’t find results. Going on another prolonged scoring drought. Thomas Kurowski broke the dry-spell with a pair of free throws, keeping the game within single digits. The Warriors were rolling now, snagging O-boards, drilling 3’s and attacking the paint with confidence, their lead extending to 14. Some flashes of what this Norwood team is capable of showed themselves late in the third, with a strong post presence and slashing abilities displayed. Despite this the Woodville lead kept growing, 44 – 64 the score at 3-quarter time.
Woodville’s momentum continued into the fourth quarter with a quick 4-point run to start before a tough lay from Kurowski brought Norwood into the scoring column. With all the energy on the court leaning towards the Warriors it is no surprise that their spectacular play continued, attacking the ring, dominating the offensive glass and playing extremely physical defence to keep building their lead. The Flames weren’t giving up, still pushing defensively, but they were worn down and frustrated leading to sloppy fouls, putting Woodville in the bonus with over 6 minutes remaining in the game. The warriors kept their foot on the gas, going to full court pressure with 3 and a half to go. The benches were emptied with just over 2 minutes remaining, letting some of the young players get some very important in-game reps. A standout moment with Izaiyah Hubert-Harnois scoring an and 1 basket for his first NBL1 points. 60 – 98 the final.
