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THE Fire are the toast of Townsville and the WNBL tonight after finally breaking away to beat Southside 82-69 in Game 2 of their best-of-three Grand Final Series, claiming the club's fourth championship with a 2-0 sweep over the league's consistent powerhouse, PG Steph Reid leading the way.

Reid was simply magnificent, humbling the Opals hopes of Southside counterpart Maddi Rocci with a complete performance at both ends of the floor, showing captivating leadership and control, with no unnecessary histrionics.

Fire import Tianna Hawkins recovered from a quiet first half to subtlely seize control of the Flyers' frontcourt in the second, her 18 points delivered at a slick 70 per cent, with four boards and two assists.

On top of her 20 points at 60 per cent, five rebounds, two assists and a steal in Townsville's 94-63 Game 1 rout, it rightly earnt her the Rachael Sporn Medal as the MVP of the championship series.

The Fire's backcourt star in that one was Shyla Heal who again contributed invaluable minutes when the Flyers were trying to wrest control of this contest.

And credit to the Flyers and most notably Bec Cole. After the Fire produced an all-time record winning margin in Game 1 - breaking the 35-year-old record set by Nunawading Spectres in 1988 when dismantling North Adelaide Rockets by 28 - on top of sweeping Southside throughout the season, few gave the Vics any chance of getting within 20 this time around.

When Townsville quickly burst from the blocks, the crowd at State Basketball Centre had to be holding its collective breath, fearing the worst.

But Cole and, initially at least, Abby Bishop had very different ideas. Past championship winners, they kept the Flyers flying, Bishop going for 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting (including 2-of-2 threes) in the first quarter.

Cole defined the team's heart and soul on this occasion and her 26 points off 11-of-16 shooting was a tour de force that kept Southside alive and within sight of forcing an unlikely Game 3 decider.

Unfortunately for the Flyers, the Fire defence worked tirelessly to reduce any influence Sara Blicavs could exert, while Kayla Thornton was 1-of-11 through a tortured first half.

But by sheer will, Southside kept in the game, only trailing 56-57 going into the final quarter.

Free throws by exciting new face Nyadiew Puoch erased that deficit and her impact grew more profound when she paced the Flyers to their biggest lead at 64-59 with 7:15 left and Townsville already in bonus.

A 3-point swish from Hawkins and Reid free throws quickly tied the game back up before consecutive buckets from Mikaela Ruef (game-high 13 rebounds) sent Townsville out 68-64.

Cole again would not be denied, knocking down a 3-pointer for 67-68 inside the final five minutes.

Again Karlie Samuelson and Hawkins pulled it out to a five-point buffer, Cole's free throws inside the final three minutes effectively Southside's last hurrah.

Townsville closed the game with a 10-0 run and Southside had nothing in the tank or the think tank to offer sufficient resistance.

Flyers coach Cheryl Chambers persisted with Rocci (36:12 minutes for 4 points on 2-of-7 shooting, six turnovers) and left Monique Conti on the bench, going with her starters and Puoch. In the finish, they had nothing left.

Heal and Zitina Aokuso were key players off the Fire bench as coach Shannon Seebohm steered his team to their 16th consecutive win (much like Geelong in the AFL last season), made it 5-0 over the Flyers in 2022-23 and added to Townsville's trophy cabinet where the championships from 2015, 2016 and 2018 already reside.

WNBL GRAND FINAL SERIES (Best-of-3)
JCU TOWNSVILLE FIRE (1) v JAYCO SOUTHSIDE FLYERS (2)
Game 1: TOWNSVILLE FIRE 94 (Heal 23, Hawkins 20, Woods 11; Ruef 9 rebs; Reid 7 assts) d SOUTHSIDE FLYERS 63 (Cole 20, Blicavs 11, Rocci 9; Blicavs 6 rebs; Rocci 4 assts) at Townsville Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 3,717
Game 2: TOWNSVILLE FIRE 82 (Reid 20, Hawkins 18, Ruef 12, Samuelson 11; Ruef 13 rebs; Reid, Ruef 4 assts) d SOUTHSIDE FLYERS 69 (Cole 26, Bishop 12, Thornton 10; Thornton 8 rebs; Bishop 4 assts) at State Basketball Centre. Crowd: 3,116

Townsville Fire win championship 2-0.  Rachael Sporn Medal - Tianna Hawkins