NBL1 Central Round 7 – Headband bros duel in thriller, Lions last quarter leap ends three-year drought

"A Legan of his own" - NBL1 superstar James Legan dominated 3 quarters of his two matches on the weekend to nearly pull off the second drought breaking victory of the weekend including dropping a massive league record of nine triples on Sunday for the Eastern Mavericks.  Picture supplied by Picture IT Sports Photography

5-Minute Read

Saturday 21/05/22

Norwood Flames vs Eastern Mavericks

Flames turn up heat defensively to blanket Mavs

The Flames grabbed an important win in their season to drag them back into the top five blanketing the Eastern Mavericks and forcing the ball into their hands 81-65 at the Firedome. The home side forced the Mavs into 31 turnovers with up court pressure and match ups which yielded a 39-34 second half. Brooke Basham particularly good in the second quarter finished with 25 points and 4 steals and Ally Wilson with 20 points and 12 rebounds. It was Sophie Kerridge that set the tone from the tip to finish with 13 points, 7 assists and 7 steals. The two Canadians were dominant for the away side with Lefebvre-Okankwu clocking 25 points and 12 rebounds Gouchie-Provencher with 24 points, 16 rebounds and 2 blocks. Olivia Bradley was a spark after a big week and posted 8 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks to keep the Mavs in the contest.  

Flames fire in second half to down dogged Mavs

It took a second half timeout one minute into the half for Norwood Flames coach Tim Odell to spark a 64-30 run and engineer against a fired up Eastern Mavericks 102-78 at the Firedome. A James Legan triple immediately after the half-time break saw the away side lead 38-48 with Odell triggering that timeout immediately, Legan was playing in a “Legan of his own” with a first half of 18 points but kept to just three attempts for the remainder of the contest to finish with 21 points. The Flames forced the Mavs into 13 points from 17 turnovers in the second half as Ray Harding took over to notch 30 points and 10 rebounds while Trey McBride fired up both ends of the floor to finish with 19 points. Koop McCalop was extremely consistent keeping the Mavs scoreboard ticking over with 23 points and 18 rebounds while Tom Cromarty an important piece in this line-up returned with 12 points and 5 rebounds.