FLAMES SET THE PACE
THE Townsville Flames could teach a thing or two to their club’s men’s program after the Heat dropped both matches of their weekend double-header.
The Flames soared to 3-0 in the NBL1 North before picking up a Wildcard Round win over the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence team in their own double header.
It was the opposite story for dunking ace Deandre Daniels and the Heat.
Townsville’s NBL1 North Men fell to South West Metro 94-90 in overtime on Friday before a disappointing 80-64 loss to the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence team on Saturday night.
The Heat controlled proceeding for the majority of its clash with the Pirates but a fourth-quarter collapse led to an extra period as South West Metro rode its late game momentum to seal an impressive 94-90 win in the extra period.
Townsville product Ethan Betts impressed with a game-high 26 points and import big man Daniels had a 19-point, 14rebound double but the Heat was unable to make the big plays when it counted and fell to 2-1 for the season.
It then fell to an impressive BA COE team 80-64, with the visiting young guns running away with the contest behind a stellar 33-point team effort in the final term.
It was a far cry from the high-flying Flames, whose winning ways continued on Friday night as they held off the South West Metro Pirates 71-61, behind 22 points from Courtney Woods, 14 from Steph Reid and 10 from Mia Murray.
The Flames produced a 24-11 fourth quarter to seal a third straight win to start their season.
The Flames backed up 24 hours later to produce a gritty 73-67 win over the Centre of Excellence laden with the top female prospects from around the country.
Townsville trailed by two at the first break but turned up the heat defensively to run out 73-67 winners in the NBL1 Wildcard challenge.
Reigning Townsville Fire MVP Reid again impressed with 17 points and three assists while Grace Rodgers added 14 points on stellar 7/10 shooting to go with eight rebounds in the victory.
“I think our depth has really come out over the last few games, our ability to bring people off the bench that can come in and contribute the way they have been is a huge positive,” crafty Flames point guard Reid said.
“I still think we have a lot of room to grow so to be able to produce wins the way we are playing, we know we have the potential to play so much better and it’s exciting to think how far we can go.”
The Heat and Flames are both back at home this Friday night, hosting NBL1 newcomers the
Darwin Salties at Annandale’s STARFM Stadium in a doubleheader.