HALFWAY HOME
FIRE FOCUS ON WNBL DECIDER
“IF IT comes to you, knock it down.”
Sydney Wiese says those simple words from Fire veteran Kelly Wilson were the catalyst for her blistering three- point display as Townsville took out game one of the WNBL grand final series.
The American import made Melbourne pay whenever she was given an opening with four triples for the match as the Fire dominated the contest from beyond the arc on their way to a 69- 64 victory.
Wiese arrived in Townsville this season with a reputation as a sharpshooter, ending her career at Oregon State as the Pac- 12’ s all- time leader in three- pointers ( 373) at an incredible 41 per cent.
And she has been making it rain threes during the WNBL playoffs, stepping up with a clutch shot just before halftime in their epic semi- final win over the Sydney Uni Flames.
Wiese’s deadeye shooting took all momentum from the Boomers in the tense thirdquarter of their grand final opener as the Fire nabbed what would prove to be the matchwinning lead.
That perimeter game was the difference on the Fire’s home floor, with Darcee Garbin and Cayla George also nailing big threes down the stretch which Melbourne just couldn’t match.
The high stakes clash was mostly a defensive grind, but Wiese ( above) said her teammates had given her the confidence to keep putting up shots.
“I just told myself if we’re gonna go down, we’re gonna go down shooting, and so if we’re gonna win, we’re gonna win shooting the ball,” she said.
“My teammates did a really good job breathing confidence into me throughout the game. Kelly pulled me aside and said ‘ if it comes to you, knock it down’.
“You work so hard throughout the week in practice shooting on your own, doing a lot of drills with teammates, just trying to get your mind right for those moments.
“I think everyone hit big shots tonight. It was a lot of fun to see our hard work come together.”
The Fire can wrap up the best- of- three series in Melbourne on Thursday night and Wiese believed they have the confidence to finish the job on the road.
“I feel like it was good for us to get the jitters out,” she said.