The Eagles have jumped to second on the CABL ladder, after defeating the Warriors 95-80 at Wayville on Saturday.

The final score was not indicative of Forestville’s dominance, who led by 28 during the fourth period before emptying the bench, giving all 11 active players the chance to get on the scoreboard.

Brad Sullivan continued his great form with 30 points and 7 rebounds, while James Boonstoppel made the most of his extended minutes by scoring a season-high 17 points, including 10 in under two minutes in the second quarter, in what was a game-defining burst.

Neil Mottram (11 points, 6 rebounds), Rashad Tucker (12 rebounds, 10 points, 5 assists) and Adam Doyle (10 points) were the other Eagles to score in double figures.

For Woodville, Jarrod Graves was solid with 14 points, including 4/8 threes, while Adam Miller had a season-high 12 points.

Zane Reeves had 11 and Josh Knight 10, although most of Knight’s points came in junk-time.

At quarter-time, it looked like the spectators would be in for a close one, with the visiting Warriors trailing by just a point.

Sullivan was on fire early, scoring 10 of the Eagles’ first 14 points, including two treys.

The hosts led 18-10 with 4.16 remaining in the quarter; the run capped off by two free throws from Doyle.

However, Graves’ third three-pointer of the quarter ignited a 7-0 Woodville run to get the away side back in the game.

There were five lead changes early in the second before a three-pointer from Blair gave the Eagles the lead for good.

After Boonstoppel found Sullivan for another three and a 35-31 Forestville lead, Boonstoppel lit up the arena with four jumpers in the space of 1 minute and 52 seconds.

The Eagles’ reserve guard missed just two shots in the period, as Forestville built a 10 point lead.

Frustration was beginning to show amongst the Woodville players, particularly Adam Blight, who picked up two meaningless fouls one after the other.

The second was for elbowing Mottram off the ball, which referee Nathan Durant did not like, telling the big Warrior he would “hit the showers” if he did it again.

Blight was substituted out by Coach Al Green soon after, with his replacement Steve Pilkington scoring immediately, getting Woodville within 10 at intermission.

The third quarter was all Forestville, led by Tucker and Sullivan.

Tucker was all over the floor was 6 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists, while Sullivan racked up 11 points.

The Eagles won the quarter 29-15, and led 79-55 at the end of three.

With the game well and truly won, Forestville Coach Andy Simons gave the likes of Charles Newland, Majok Deng and Tim Smyth some late minutes, with each getting on the scoreboard.

Woodville scored 23 of the game’s last 33 points, thanks to 8 points from Knight and 5 from Matt Hunt, but it was purely academic, with the Eagles picking up win number nine from 12 starts.

Forestville verdict: The Eagles have now won six of their last seven, which is alongside North Adelaide as the league’s best record during that period. The Warriors have been a competitive side all year, but when Forestville put its foot down, Woodville looked second rate. With the recent additions of Mottram and Boonstoppel, the Eagles are a much deeper team on all fronts. Now in second place, Forestville has a legitimate chance at the Minor Premiership, although it will surely be thinking about bigger things. Next up is Daniel Johnson and the South Adelaide Panthers at Marion.

Woodville verdict: The Warriors got good performances out of Graves and Miller, but Knight, Blight, Cameron Wilson and Colin Matteson were well down on production. Three games ago, Woodville was sitting pretty in fourth place, but has since dropped all matches and fallen to seventh. Is Green’s magic wearing off after upset wins over North, West, South and Eastern? The Warriors will need to find something extra if they are to bounce back and make the finals. Next up is bottom-placed Southern, who have dropped seven straight, so Woodville has a great chance to break its duck.

By James Woite