BOOMERS SHOOT FOR FIGHTING COMEB ACK
THE Melbourne Boomers are adamant they can address their shooting woes as they look to save the WNBL grand final series on their home floor on Thursday night.
The Boomers dropped the opening game in Townsville 69- 64 after struggling to match the Fire’s output from beyond the arc.
The home side landed nine triples at 42 per cent while Melbourne could only muster three at a miserable 13 per cent, which proved the killer blow in such a close contest.
Boomers coach Guy Molloy was happy with his side’s defence to hold the Fire to below their season average, but he stressed that their shooting had to improve for game two.
“It was a really tough game. Both teams defended really well, but the only thing was our threes didn’t drop,” Molloy said.
“We just had a miserable percentage so we make two or three more of those shots and turn it into mediocre percentage then the game could have been ours.
“We knew that we could pump the ball inside, but to prevent them ( Townsville) collapsing we needed to knock down our shots and we just didn’t.
“The last couple of games we’ve played at home we’ve shot great so I’m sure the girls will respond.”
Liz Cambage was inspirational for the Boomers with a game- high 26 points, 13 rebounds, and four blocks, but the star centre said she was frus- trated to not come away with the win.
“I guess that’s an individual play, but it doesn’t really mean anything. We’re lucky that it’s a series and we’re at home next,” Cambage said.
“Townsville are a veteran team. You look up at all the flags along the roof, they’ve been here many times, and we’ve just got to bring it.
“We’ve got a lot of girls that this is their first grand final and hopefully they got a lot of their nerves out and they’ll be pumped to go and hit those shots on our home court.”