Rays fight to the end in closest game yet

IT WASN’T quite the fairytale win, but the Northern Rays proved why they still deserve a place in the Sapphire Series with a hard-fought 56-44 loss to the USC Thunder at Townsville Stadium.

The Rays cast aside a week of uncertainty about their playing future in front of a vocal home crowd to claim a 13-11 quarter-time lead – the first time they’ve won a quarter in their short history.

The Thunder came out firing in the second quarter to lead by as much as seven goals, but the Rays kept fighting back as they went into halftime trailing 28-23.

The home side twice drew back level in the third term, but the Thunder took advantage of a late lapse in concentration to make it 41-33 at the final break.

The Rays cut the margin to just four goals midway through the fourth quarter, but the Thunder snuffed out the comeback with a strong finish.

Rays vice-captain Chloe Fredericksen said it had been an emotionally draining week as they focused on trying to secure the club’s survival over their game plan for the Thunder.

The Rays are still working to secure funding for this Sunday’s clash with the Bull Sharks in Brisbane, but Fredericksen was hopeful they would get more chances to keep improving on the court.

“We’ve been close in patches in the past few weeks, so it’s exciting to finally get some points on the board and to get a bit of belief in ourselves too,” she said.

“I think at times we probably all thought this could be our last chance, but we did our best to put it behind us.”