Hard yakka finally pays dividends after 17 years in the wilderness Heat QBL heroes again
AFTER 17 long years, the Townsville Heat have once again been crowned QBL champions.
The Heat proved too strong for the Mackay Meteors across their three- game series, sealing the state league title with a 103- 91 victory in yesterday’s decider.
Townsville took the early lead with a 94- 70 victory in Game 1 before Mackay bounced back in style with a 91- 73 win on Saturday night to send the series to a third game.
There was nothing between the two sides in a tense first half yesterday before the Heat exploded with a huge 30- 17 third quarter to take charge of the contest.
Mackay’s Chris Cedar dropped a whopping 50 points as he did his best to keep the Meteors in the hunt without star point guard Shaun Bruce, who went down with an ankle injury in Game 1.
But Cedar alone couldn’t match Townsville’s firepower, with Peter Crawford ( 23 points) nailing a perfect 7/ 7 from beyond the arc alongside Jamell Anderson ( 22 points), Justin Baker ( 20 points), and Josh Wilcher ( 18 points) as they sealed an emotional championship triumph.
Heat coach Rodney Anderson conceded his side had been outplayed in Game 2, but he said they never lost confidence that they could come back and still clinch the series.
“We knew the longer the series went, the better we would be,” Anderson said.
“We got beaten and let ourselves down with a couple of effort areas, but we were still confident in what we were going to do.
“We had a game plan and the guys were just laser- focused on what they had to achieve and they got the job done. I couldn’t be happier.”
Anderson said the Heat had taken a great pride in representing Townsville following the demise of the Crocs in the NBL and he was delighted to reward their fans with a long- awaited title.
“This is unbelievable after 17 years without a champion- ship,” Anderson said. “With the Crocs not being in town anymore, these guys really took that upon themselves to carry the flag for men’s basketball.
“They’ve worked their butts off to get these rewards and now we can’t wait to get back and share this with the Townsville basketball community.”
Heat captain and local jun- ior Matt Rees knows as well as anyone what their victory means for Townsville basketball after being part of their losing grand final side in 2008.
Rees admitted it has been a tough grind for club stalwarts like himself, Keegan Tudehope, Brendan McCully, and Max Murray, but he said finally realising their championship dream had made it all worthwhile. “It tastic,” Rees said.
“It’s been a real group effort and I’m so proud of the boys. It’s been a long grind.
“Just all the years of putting in at training week- in, week- out, but this win makes everything worthwhile.
“It puts us back on the map. Our crowd numbers have been fantastic this season and with that support feels fan- we’ve been able to achieve big things.”
Rees is yet to make a call on whether this year will be his QBL swan song, saying he just wanted to enjoy the moment before deciding his playing future.
“I’ll have an off- season and see how the body pulls up. We have a long trip home on the bus so we’ll have a few drinks and enjoy it,” he said.