Isaac
Years ago
Hang Time 22, Finals...
This round's Hang Time is out and here's the intro piece:
NG A CLASS ACT!Pick up a copy at a game for previews, results, stats and more.
In an awesome display, Darren Ng swept the Sabres into the 2005 Grand Final. Scoring 49 points at 56% and 19 out of 20 attempts from the foul line, Darren shot half of the Sabres' score to sweep his team into the Grand Final. Sturt's one-point win left the Eagles to face the hot Flames in the Preliminary Final.
The win for the Sabres was even more meritorious, given the absence of both Austin Smylie and Oscar Forman and facing a full Eagles' roster. While the Eagles' field shooting was 12% higher than that of the Sabres, they suffered in the end from inferior shooting from the foul line.
The Eagles meet the red, hot Norwood Flames who easily put an end to the Mavericks' aspirations. Without both Jacob Holmes and Ben Madgen to provide assistance, Brad Hill's 41 points was not enough to peg back the Flames' 35-point half time lead. In the past month the Flames have been the form team of the BankSA State League. The confidence of the team stood out with six players scoring double figures. No doubt the Flames will have memories of this week's equivalent game back in 1999 when they knocked out the favoured Eagles and went on to win the title.
Forestville Eagles moved into their sixth consecutive Grand Final after defeating the Sabres. Both teams missed key players with Rebecca Duke (Forestville) and Angela Marino (Sturt) away with the Sapphires and New Zealand respectively.
The game was won in a third quarter that produced a 12-point lead for the Eagles. Their advantage came from Lightning team mates Dee Ranford and Narelle Lindsay aided by Claire Gardner and Jess Fergus.
While the Sabres enjoyed control of the boards they were unable to make the most of their possessions. Monique Bowley's 21 rebounds was a season high for her. This area will be particularly important this week when the Sabres' meet the Southern Tigers with twin towers, Tracey Beatty and Nerrida Cooper.
Southern Tigers gained their advantage over North Adelaide Rockets in the 23-16 second quarter of the elimination semi final and were able to keep their lead to no closer than four points. Tracey Beatty had a dominant influence in the game with a game-high 23 points and 12 rebounds, helping to establish control of the boards.
Sturt will be favoured to defeat the Tigers this week after two regular season victories and move into the Grand Final.
