Norwood has won its fifth straight final against Forestville, comfortably defeating the Eagles 104-85 at Mars on Saturday.

In a game that was characteristically physical but unusually free-scoring, the Flames were too strong over the course over four quarters, and attacked the ball the harder of the two sides.

The margin of victory for Norwood over Forestville in finals has grown in each of the last five games.

After trailing by two points at quarter-time, the Flames set up their victory with a 36-24 second quarter.

Forestville trailed by as much as 24 in the third quarter, before fighting back to within 11.

They had chances to get closer, but Norwood had all the answers.

The Flames shot 61 per cent from the field to the Eagles’ 42 per cent, had seven extra assists, and registered 13 more points at the foul-line.

They also scored 46 points in the paint to 36, and had five extra points off turnovers.

David Cooper was in the midst of everything at both ends of the court.

Cooper had 19 points on 7/10 FG shooting, 14 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks.

He also drew 7 fouls and made 5/7 foul shots.

Todd Matthews had 10 of his game-high 23 points in the first quarter, adding 8 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals along the way.

Matthews shot 8/11 from the field and 3/4 from beyond the arc, before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.

Andrew Webber scored 19 points, Nick Hambour posted 15 points and 8 rebounds, and Keith Krause provided an important cameo role off the bench with 10 points on 3/4 FG shooting in 14 minutes.

Forestville struggled with foul trouble all night, which grew as a problem as the game progressed.

Rashad Tucker (12 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists) fouled out of the game, while Adam Doyle and Nic Blair (16 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals each), Brad Sullivan (16 points), Trent Fildes (13 points, 3/3 3FG, 5 rebounds) and Majok Deng (10 points, 8 rebounds, 7 fouls drawn) each picked up four fouls.

The Eagles actually attempted 20 extra field goals, but had their running game shut down for most of the night, and did not help themselves by missing 10 of their 21 free throws.

It was apparent Norwood was the more focussed side right from the tipoff.

The Flames scored the first eight points and forced the Eagles, who were predictability trying to get out in transition, into running half court sets.

A Tucker jumper settled the visitors, before some excellent play from Doyle and some hot shooting from Sullivan and Fildes got Forestville back into the game.

Fildes was proving a tough matchup for the Norwood bigs, who did not look comfortable defending on the perimeter.

The Flames guards were doing better offensively, with Matthews scoring freely and Andrew Webber doing some damage from the foul-line.

The highlight of the opening period was when Tucker went to set a screen off a Forestville baseline play, before being left alone in the middle of the key for a powerful double-handed slam dunk.

Doyle then closed out the quarter with a classy finish off a tough drive to give the Eagles their first lead of the night.

The first three minutes of the second saw the teams trade leads back and forth, with neither able to grab the momentum.

That was before Brad Davidson reverted to a full court trap, with some zone in the half court.

The move worked to perfection, with a three-point play from Ben Howell and a dunk from Cooper sending the Flames on a 19-6 run for a 56-42 lead.

Back-to-back threes from Blair and a basket from Deng had Forestville back in the game, before a series of unnecessary fouls gifted Norwood four points from the foul-line and a 10 point half-time lead.

Strong play from Matthews, Cooper and Webber saw the Flames pile on the first 14 points of the third and race to a 74-50 lead.

The Eagles did not look like scoring, nor did they look like getting a stop against a team who was running its structures explicitly.

Normally, spectators would have been excused for assuming the game was over, but with Norwood versus Forestville, there is no such thing as a match-winning lead.

And so the tide turned, led by Tucker and Deng.

Tucker got into a rhythm offensively, while Deng was strong inside at both ends against his more experienced opponents.

It was this combination that produced a buzzer-beater and capped a 21-9 run, as the Eagles closed to within 12 by the end of three.

Forestville maintained the momentum early in the fourth and looked capable of reducing the deficit.

However, all they had to show for this in the first 100 seconds was a free throw, and failed three times to get within single figures.

Against the run of play, it was Norwood who scored the first field goal of the quarter, via another Cooper dunk off a dime from Matthews.

It was almost another minute before the next field goal was scored, with Krause netting a trey from the top of the arc, giving the Flames a 16 point lead.

The closest the Eagles got again was 12 points with 3.51 remaining after a hoop from Blair, as Norwood went on a 10-0 run to close out the match.

Norwood verdict: The Flames are back in the Grand Final after a year off, and will now be favourites for a third premiership in four years. Their intensity was extremely impressive and they not only stopped the Eagles’ run, but ran at every opportunity themselves. With the Norwood stars on fire and role players contributing, it will be tough for Forestville and West to finish any higher than second.

Forestville verdict: The Eagles looked a lot more fatigued than they did last week and will need to find their run and intensity again if they are to get up over the Bearcats. Forestville had patches of good play, but overall, this was its third unconvincing performance in the last month. Defence is the worry for the Eagles, meaning they will have to be on song offensively if they are to make it through to the Grand Final.

By James Woite