Photo Credit – As supplied by NBL1
5-Minute Read
Women’s Grand Final Preview: Central Districts Lions vs Forestville Eagles
When: 5:30pm (ACST), Saturday August 10
Where: Adelaide 36ers Arena, Findon
Broadcast: Kayo Freebies, http://www.nbl1.com.au
The Last Time
QF: CENTRAL DISTRICTS LIONS 86 (Samuels 27, Ritz 23, Levy 22) defeated FORESTVILLE EAGLES 84 (Sawyer 18, Vidmar 17, M Freer 15) in Overtime
How they got here
It’s been an unbelievable journey for The Centrals Districts Lions Women having to win their second ever finals match in their existence. They defeated a fired up Forestville Eagles 86-84 in overtime. Samuels was influential in the first half with 14 points and five assists and Ritz with 10 points and six rebounds. The Lions were being met by the Eagles grinding finals style of game drawing them into a 13-17 quarter to set up yet another grandstand finish 55-54 with one to play.
Samuels and Ritz awoke early in the fourth as did Levy (22 points with four triples, seven rebounds, three assists and steals) to push it back out to a slender six point lead 64-58. Simons again reeled them right back in with a couple of contributions with Gabi Vidmar’s long bomb making it 65-68. The Lions were forced into a poor offence by the stout Eagles defence but the single most important block shot of the season from Ritz would send it to a second consecutive overtime period between the two teams.
Overtime got underway with both teams struggling to find scoring options but when it counted in the final seconds Renai Fejo was fouled to send her to the free throw line with five seconds left. The smarts of Fejo were on full display as she made the first them shot the ball intelligently to rim straight down giving the Eagles no chance to rebound clearly and the Lions finally grabbed their first victory in a final since the elimination final of 2012 against the Eastern Mavericks. That setup an encounter with the top of the table Sturt Sabres who the Lions had not beaten since 2012 and lost twice already to this season.
The Sabres started the better, having owned the Lions in both encounters this season and had a streak that stretches back to their last finals appearance in 2012. One player stepped up in the first term to make sure it wasn’t going to happen again in championship player of the 2022 West Adelaide Bearcats in Jasmin “Jazz” Fejo. Jazz along with Lily Ritz struck up the Lions chorus and had them just in front 34-37 at the main break.
The Lions flicked a switch in intensity as Levy, thanks to a bone-jarring screen from Samuels, finished off the roll to the rim with Samuels beating the shotclock from deep out 41-48. The quarter of desperation was summed up by a loose ball dived onto then turned over by Fejo then Nicola Mathews and ending with a steal back for Fejo to Levy to extend it out. The Lions in front at the end of three 45-55 and on the cusp of club history.
The last quarter was an epic tug of war with Nicola Mathews answering the call for the home side with a triple but Levy levelled up to score two tough baskets with timeout to the Sabres 48-59. Zoe Walker-Roberts made the tough finish but what followed was one of the highlights of the season. Samuels’ “touchdown” pass to Ritz for the step through finish showed the Lions ability to be bold, daring and dashing at the Sabres helped seal the historic win and send the lions to their first ever grand final.
After going down to the Lions in the qualifying final – The Eagles produced a sensational second half through Jess Simons to send the North Adelaide Rockets crashing out of the finals 71-50 at the Nest. Simons was unstoppable in the second half after the teams stayed level during the first half. Neither team could break away from the other in the first term with both Freer sisters in Jordyn and Maddy having a sister duel out on the hardwood scoring 13 between them for their respective sides. Maddy Freer’s free throws levelled things up 18-18 a piece at the first break.
Looking for a way to break the game open Eagles coach Georgia Crouch turned to Hannah Gardiner with the rookie impactful with seven points in six minutes of action in the quarter with her and Gabby Vidmar taking advantage and a handy buffer of 30-23. Rockets Brooke Basham made two crucial late pull up jump shots to bring it back to 41-32 at the main break.
Maddy Freer loosened up to make a couple of baskets early in the third but the Jess Simons takeover was about to commence. Simons’ triple was the first of seven for the term with the Rockets unable to find any clean offensive looks – the Eagles defence moving up a level. They had a handy margin heading into the last 57-40 and looked almost home to the preliminary final.
The Rockets couldn’t quite capture the magic of the previous round with Simons and Freer putting the finishing touches on the win and a date in the preliminary final.
An untouchable opening four minutes of the third quarter by Maddy Freer of the Forestville Eagles broke the back of the Sturt Sabres in a preliminary final game of little error – the Eagles progressing to their first Grand Final since 2019 in a curtain-closing 54-68 win at Springbank. It was an untraditional start for both teams known for their stout defence with both opening with a swathe of jumpers with nothing in it after the first term 19-20.
It was back to the usual grind early in the second with Gabby Vidmar’s triple breaking a scoring drought of three minutes and 24 seconds but the Eagles found trouble from the Sabres through Jasmine Simmons dynamic minutes on fast break giving the Sabres a 10-2 run – the Sabres out just at the half 32-28.
The opening to the third belonged to the Merv Harris medallist in Maddy Freer who with desire single handedly notched an 0-11 run laden with triples, a hook shot, free throws and the whole kit bag as she propelled the Eagles to a handy 32-39 lead. It took Sydney Brown’s free throws to break the drought for the Sabres four minutes and 19 seconds into the third and a fightback ensued – at three quarter time the contest was on the line 39-45 but the big move had been made through the Eagles mixing it up at both ends to win the quarter 7-17.
Simmons’ reverse layup opened the fourth but an Aimee Brett long two took it to double figures for the first time in the match 41-51. A no-look shot from Prosser gave the Sabres some hope but King became queen of the court as she made a triple, finished and1 off a curl drive then finished an offensive rebound put back. At 49-58 with 2:50 to go – Vidmar finally slayed the Sabres with a dagger to end their three in a row decider appearance hopes and ultimately put the Eagles into their first one since 2019.
Both teams come into this with two epics already in the pocket – but the third quarter in all three games has proved pivotal in how the wheel of fortune has landed and which side of the dial each team has landed.
Championship History
The Central Districts Lions Women have existed since 1981 never made a grand final with the Lions highest finish being fourth in 2012. In terms of finals this is the Lions third appearance having made the elimination final of 2011 and nearly making the semi going down to the Eagles. They backed it up the previous year getting over the Eastern Mavericks to claim their first ever postseason win in 2012 then met the Eagles again in the elimination semi-final but again came up short – the margins were three points and a record margin of 56 point one of the largest of the pre-NBL1 Central era.
They needed an all-round contributor in forward Elizabeth Keane and a mainstay in the league in Jess Mahony who brought invaluable experience from other clubs. The likes of Desinta Cummins, Tayla Crockford and Brianna Wedding provided solid role players provided great backup but the one thing missing at this time was a genuine WNBL star of the time – something that resources available at that time was not able to be achieved. Under the NBL1 Central banner – the Lions have now been able to acquire that missing piece in Casey Samuels with Jasmin Fejo filling the role of Mahony – Levy, Garrard, Dittmar filling the supporting roles of the likes of Cummins, Crockford, Wedding and Lily Ritz producing the numbers of Keane.
The Eagles have won seven including one as Adelaide in 1966 with then coach Jim Madigan submitted his team as West Torrens winning two since their first in 1972. The Eagles made six grand finals before 2000 with a 2-4 record then going onto win seven as Forestville with six in a golden patch between 2001 and 2011. The ten year stretch included eight appearances only missing out on 2007 and 2008. The Eagles average winning margin in grand finals is 13 points including a three-peat in 2009-2011. The iconic Eagles of this three-peat were Dee Ranford, Jess Frost (nee Fergus), Mia Murray (nee Newley) with Jess Mahony also making another appearance in a grand final this time for the Eagles.
Since 2000 the Eagles average winning grand final score is 72 points while defensively have kept their opposition in deciders to 58 points – the score they kept their last opponents in a Grand Final to in the Sturt Sabres in their last appearance in 2019 winning 61-58 in a thriller at Saturday night’s venue.
While the modern history between these two has been epic with two overtime matches – it seems the Lions will be looking to owe the Eagles a few for past knockout blows out of the finals race.
The Numbers
– The Central Districts Lions obviously have transformed from where they have been personnel wise the past 12 years and its shown in the numbers – they are #1 in a number of offensive categories including points per game with 85.6, field goal percentage 43.7, points in the paint 41 and 11.8 in second chance points.
– Many are sleeping on the Lions defensively as well – while they hold a #4 rank in defensive rating at 86.1 they are #2 in steals with 11.3 and have held both opponents in the finals to an average of 71 points which is right on the league average.
– The Eagles are consistent offensively across a number of categories but reign through fast break points at #1 with 9.3 per game.
– Defensively is where the Eagles have buttered their bread in 2024 as the #1 least points conceded with 61.7 and keeping the opposition’s field goal percentage to 34.9.
– The Lions have the #2, #3 and #5 scorers in the league in Casey Samuels (22.58), Tayla Levy (19.71) and Lily Ritz (17). Levy is also #2 in the league in assists with 5.18 and Samuels #5 with 4.68. Ritz also blitz’s many other categories in the top five for rebounds (11.50) and steals (3.28)
– The Eagles have only one player in the top five with Maddy Freer #3 for blocks but have Freer and Jess Simons averaging 12 and 13 points respectively.
– Importantly the Lions have had Jasmin Fejo and Casey Samuels that have played at least one NBL1 Grand Final or WNBL match at the Adelaide 36ers Arena but the Eagles have several including Jess Simons, Maddy Freer, Gabi Vidmar, Aimee Brett and Cara Annetts.
The Money Women
Coming off the back of a breakout year for the Bendigo Spirit in the WNBL Casey Samuels has been electric in her return to NBL1 Central. The Halls medallist has however had a quiet preliminary final with seven points, five assists and rebounds. In good news for Lions fans – her numbers against the Eagles have been strong averaging 22 points in their three encounters including 33 percent from the three point line with 11 makes – she is the biggest offensive threat to her opposition.
Jess Simons has been money the backend of the season scoring over 19 points in three of her past six matches. In those matches she’s gotten up more than 17 attempts and while the percentages from the field have varied – when the Eagles need a string of buckets the possessions tend to land in her hand. She’s getting to the rim as well, shooting 44 percent from inside the paint and is a potentially damaging player inside for the Lions who give up the fourth worst points in the paint to their opposition.
The Reliable Women
The general of this team Jasmin Fejo many pointed out hadn’t fired just yet the back end of this season but while all the focus was on Levy, Samuels and Ritz – as per the Lions history the nous was ready to be unrolled when it counted. She took it back to the level that earnt her a WNBL contract with the Lightning and showed it with a lightning start individually against the Sabres in their semi-final. That adds to her record of finals matches since the start of the NBL1 Central era – in four games she has averaged 19 points when it’s crunch time.
Another who took a step up this season and may have earned herself a shiny WNBL contract is Maddy Freer. While the numbers are impressive for Freer it’s the impact in matches when it’s counted this season that standout. The 11 point start to the preliminary final third quarter was a window into how much Freer can change a game across many areas of the court. She averages 13.52 points, 8.05 rebounds and two assists and steals per game with her mobile defensive “switchability” the head of the Eagles defence – a valuable consistent contributor all season.
The X-Factors
Lily Ritz I have unequivocally said as an import has been one of the saaviest finds of the 2024 season. The Youngstown State college product has always been a highly effective scorer, rebounder and stealer of the rock and she has translated that to our league. Given their three meetings this season much of the fate of the Lions rests in her hands having been the wounded wing of the Forestville Eagles. Ritz averages 22.6 points, 17 rebounds and 4.33 steals against the Eagles and looms the game breaker from past recent history.
I’ve been banging my drum pretty hard about the potential for Gabi Vidmar to be the Eagles game breaker and I have evidence to prove it. In the 2019 Grand Final – she scored 13 points in 28 minutes of play on three of four from beyond the arc. She did this at 18 years of age in a big time final against a hardened unit in the Sturt Sabres – now she is back from a college career done at Cal State Fullerton coming off the back of the second most ever three point attempts made. The stage is set as she returns and could be the reason her Eagles lift the trophy by night’s end.
So who claims the championship?
It doesn’t get much closer than the last two encounters for these teams but there are some key aspects in this match that help us find a winner. As mentioned it’s been the Lions third quarters in two of the three that have proved the difference – the first encounter they held the Eagles to 11 points and in the second and last matchup it was 17.
The magic defensive number is 20 with the Lions scoring six times the Eagles four times across their 12 regulation time quarters. The other key number is the offensive rebounds – Ritz and the Lions have won this 49 to 34 giving the Lions 15 extra possessions converted to an average of 17 points per game.
The Eagles however have dominated the paint in these contests at their offensive end of the floor averaging 39 points per match – it has made up more than fifty percent of their output between the clubs.
It’ll come down to who can control the glass, execute their offensive sets effectively and the Ritz versus Freer matchup. We know the Lions won’t go too deep into their bench as their “Footy Factors” in Fejo and Levy minus foul trouble will not stop running and that stop start nature of the cross-over sport will see them not fatigue. The Eagles will rely heavily on Simons, Freer and Ella Sawyer to drive the grand final cart however the experience of Annetts and Aimee Brett in big games could swing it back in the Eagles favour.
You only look back to past history between these two and you feel the Lions owe the Eagles one over the years, in finals and I feel this is their moment to bring the curtain down on a historic women’s state league season…
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