The Townsville Fire’s unbelievable sizzling streak continued in recreation 1 of the WNBL grand closing with an emphatic 94-63 win over the Southside Flyers.
The Fire Pit was surging with a season-high 3717 boisterous followers in attendance to observe Townsville dominate from the opening tip.
Townsville haven’t misplaced a recreation since January 5 and at the moment are only one win away from securing their fourth WNBL championship.
Coaching in his second grand closing, Fire coach Shannon Seebohm confirmed he’s blissful to lean on his massive weapons in massive video games, taking part in Tianna Hawkins for each minute of the primary three quarters earlier than giving her an early mark.
Hawkins continued to push her case for the crew’s MVP, scoring 20 factors in her half-hour of motion.
Southside’s Rebecca Cole was a shining beacon of energy in a shedding aspect, scoring 20 factors at 75 per cent from the sector and claiming 4 boards.
Heading into her fifth grand closing as a WNBL coach, the skilled Cheryl Chambers will know {that a} sequence isn’t gained in recreation 1 and she’s going to certainly have her crew firing on all cylinders come Wednesday evening.
Townsville’s behavior of permitting results in slip was nowhere to be seen because the Fire prolonged their lead on the finish of every quarter.
Karlie Samuelson opened the scoring early with a signature three-pointer, adopted by a long-range basket by Steph Reid.
That set the tone for the Fire as they burst out of the gates and shot to a 14-point lead by quarter time.
Shyla Heal was at her energetic greatest once more for Townsville each time on the court docket.
Heal entered the sport late within the first quarter and immediately received in on the motion by draining a three-point shot — her first of three within the recreation with no miss.
The vigorous guard has been a revelation since becoming a member of the crew mid-season from the Sydney Flames, and she or he has not misplaced a recreation since making the transfer.
Heal couldn’t be stopped as she rained 16 factors of ache onto the Flyers within the first half, ending with a game-high 23 factors in just below 20 minutes of taking part in time — capturing 9 from 10 pictures from the sector.
Seebohm cleared his bench as soon as the sport was locked away within the fourth quarter, giving the depth gamers in his squad an opportunity to expertise the grand closing ambiance in entrance of 1000’s of native followers.
Townsville at the moment are 10-2 at house this 12 months and 20-4 total on the season.
The two groups will face off once more in 4 evening’s time on the State Basketball Centre in Melbourne.
Originally revealed as WNBL 2023 Townsville Fire v Southside Flyers grand closing sequence: Shyla Heal turns up the warmth
Source: www.news.com.au
