Spirit down Fire to make it two in a row on the road
The Bendigo Spirit have ground out a hard-fought, 11-point win over the third-ranked Townsville Fire on the road to see out 2024.
In a physical New Year’s Eve contest played in tough tropical North Queensland conditions at the Townsville Entertainment Centre, the Spirit fought back from being as much as nine points down partway through the first term (2-11) for the 76-65 win.
Seemingly nothing was going the visitors’ way in the first term, with shots not landing and 50-50 calls not going their way, as Townsville – looking slick – dashed out to an early lead. Veronica Burton (18 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks for the match) and Sami Whitcomb (16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals) led the fightback for the Spirit in the back half of the term, to see the Spirit trailing by five (15-20) at the first break.
The comeback continued from the Spirit in the second term, which they won – 22-14 – to take a narrow three-point lead into the main break. Eventual Player of the Game, Burton, and Whitcomb again led from the front for the Spirit, aptly aided by Spirit captain, Kelsey Griffin, who was again huge off the glass, collecting another nine rebounds to her name for the match.
The Spirit continued to extend their lead after halftime, winning the third term by the same margin as the second – 26-18 – extending their lead at the final change to 11. However, it felt like the visitors should be up by more by this point in time, with all the momentum going the Spirit’s way.
The final term was considerably more even – literally, with both sides scoring 13 apiece – as Spirit head coach, Kennedy Kereama, benched his starters once the game was iced with less than two minutes to go, after all played huge minutes. The Spirit’s bench contributed in excess of 20 points for the match, highlighting the difference in depth between the two sides, and perhaps, ultimately the result.
The Fire – hurt by their reduced bench – still had some outstanding individual performances despite the loss, with Abbey Ellis equal top scoring for the match with Burton, finishing with the stat sheet reading 18 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals next to her name. Meanwhile, Lauren Cox (15 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and a steal) and Courtney Woods (12 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists and a steal) both notched double-doubles.
Marianna Tolo was again huge for the Spirit in defence, with a massive six blocks to go with her 15 points, 4 rebounds and a steal.
The Spirit now have less than a 48-hour turn around before their next clash against the Flames in Sydney.
Tip-off in the first match of Round 10 will be at 5pm AEDT at Qudos Bank Arena, with the match to be broadcast on ESPN.