Townsville fired up!
TweetTHEY did it. Fired up after being scalded at home by the red-hot Perth Lynx, Townsville has turned the tables in Game 1 of the Grand Final to head back home needing just one more win to sweep the championship.
Perth had rocked the Fire's world by relieving them of homecourt advantage when it scored a stunning 91-72 rout in Townsville in the double-chance Semi Final.
But after dismissing SEQ in the Prelim, Townsville saved its best for last in Game 1, steamrolling the home team with a 28-7 last quarter blitz.
Few saw that coming, considering Perth had just gone 16-7 in the third term to lead 50-45 with a period to play. Lynx import Sami Whitcomb nudged that out to 52-45 with two free throws to open the scoring.
Townsville peeled off the next seven points to tie it at 52-52, Betnijah Laney gave Perth back the lead 54-52 before veteran Cherie Gallagher stuck a three for the Fire.
That was the catalyst for a 14-0 run which killed this as a contest, Townsville sweeping to a 66-54 lead and en route to its 73-57 Game 1 victory.
"That fourth quarter? It just wasn't us," Perth mentor and WNBL Coach of the Year Andy Stewart said.
Townsville drew great performances from Suzy Batkovic (25 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists), Cayla George (12 rebounds) and Micaela Cocks, the New Zealand international with 15 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.
"Mic is not a person who is chasing points but if you look at her numbers she has only had seven shots for 15 points and eight rebounds," Fire coach Chris Lucas said.
"She did a great job tonight defensively and offensively she looked after the ball, was confident and ran the team really well.
"In finals you quite often don’t get four or five people in double figures but that’s OK. I think we had a nine and an eight and finals are often won on the defensive end, and to hold them to 57 was one of their lowest scores of the year."
Betnijah Laney (above) had 19 points, 14 rebounds in another terrific all-round game for the Lynx.
Game 1, Best-of-3 Wattle Valley WNBL Grand Final Series: TOWNSVILLE FIRE 73 (Batkovic 25, Cocks 15, Novosel 9; George 12 rebs; Cocks 5 assts) d PERTH LYNX 57 (Whitcomb 20, Laney 19, Lavey 8; Laney 14 rebs; Whitcomb 4 assts) at Bendat Basketball Stadium. Townsville leads 1-0. Game 2 at Townsville RSL Stadium on Friday, March 18).