NORTON’SGUTSY EFFORT IN VAIN

A STOMACH illness to Mitch Norton heaped further misery on what was a tough night for the Townsville Heat in the Far North, losing to the Cairns Marlins 78- 70.

Marlins guard Nathan Sobey had a massive game for Townsville’s northern rivals, sinking 30 points and grabbing seven rebounds and two assists as the Heat gave up a 43- 30 half- time buffer to lose their sixth game of the QBL season.

Norton still played a remarkable 31 minutes during Saturday night’s game despite suffering stomach pains during the Heat’s bus trip north, which led to the Townsville Crocodiles guard being sidelined five times as his teammates did their best to rally around him.

Luke Brennan hit 17 points and Corban Wroe made 16 to lead the way for the Heat, but there was no stopping the Marlins, who outscored the visitors 31- 14 in the third term to run away with a home win.

The Heat now have five days to turn it around, with quirky scheduling resulting in the Flames and Marlins playing each other again on Friday night at Townsville Basketball Stadium.

“It was disappointing it ended that way because we played so well in the first half and we gave ourselves a good platform at half- time,” Heat coach Rodney Anderson said.

“But we turned the ball over four times in the first four minutes after the break, and we settled for jump shots that didn’t go in.

“Mitch had it tough and he wasn’t doing so well near the end of our bus trip, and then he got sick during the warm- up, so that obviously really limited his game.”

But a total 19 turnovers – combined with Norton’s illness – hampered the Heat’s cause.

“When things started getting tough we began playing a bit individually, so we need to do better at sticking together as a team,” Anderson said.

The Townsville Flames will also get another crack at the Cairns Dolphins on Friday after losing their women’s QBL game 90- 61.

The Dolphins blitzed the Flames 25- 14 in the first quarter and stayed dominant all game, with Lauren Gruber and Myra Donkin leading the way with 19 points each.

Mia Murray had a strong game for Townsville with 16 points, and Jacqui Zelenka grabbed a game- high 15 rebounds.