Heal praises Flames for historic victory

December 24, 2022 | Sydney Flames news

Sydney Flames coach Shane Heal is pleased his side could record its second win of the season on Friday by producing a full four-quarter performance.

The round seven victory against Canberra, which marked the Flames’ first-ever at their new home court Quaycentre, proved that his group is growing as the season progresses.

“It was good for the girls to be able to get another win,” Heal said post-game to AAP.

“[The Capitals] have been fighting against everyone and they made massive shots in the third quarter – we really had to dig in to get the win.

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“It’s been tough [this season], we’ve been close competing against some of the powerhouse teams.

“We’re the youngest team in the league, so it’s just nice that we accomplished it [a win like that].”

One of the biggest challenges on Friday proved to be slowing down Canberra’s WNBA star Rae Burrell (who finished with 27 points), especially after Heal’s side did such a good job on guard Jade Melbourne – who was plagued by foul trouble for most of the contest.

“Burrell is a great player so we really had to step it up,” second-year Flames coach Heal said.

“The game plan was to shut Jade Melbourne down and she had two points.

“So I thought we did a really good job keeping her to that – she didn’t have any impact on the game.”

The Hoops Capital side’s next clash is on December 30 from 5pm AEDT, again against Canberra, as part of the club’s double-header at Qudos Bank Arena – with the Kings taking on the JackJumpers after from 7.30pm.

Tickets to the hoops extravaganza are available here.