A very Merry Christmas from the Fire with a BIG win at the Fire Pit
Tis the season to be jolly… And Fire Fans certainly are after watching their women make it back to back big home wins in the week before Christmas. Townsville gained revenged on Canberra after a round 4 loss in the nation’s capital, claiming a comprehensive 81-48 victory just days after emphatically extinguishing the Flames. However, the hosts didn’t fly out of the blocks as they did on Wednesday with coach Shannon Seebohm suggesting they were going through the motions in the first half. He was ecstatic with their response though.
“It was honestly a bit of just like wake up we need to refocus and get back to the things that worked well the other night, soI felt like we did a good job of that and once we kind of won the momentum we did a great job.”
Not for the first time at home this season Townsville delivered a dominant third period, producing 23 points and keeping the Caps to just in 4. The 10-minute masterclass was reminiscent of the Fire’s effort against Adelaide last month when the visitors managed just one bucket, bringing Townsville back into the contest. This time though the home team had built an unassailable lead, heading into the fourth. And Seebohm’s side closed out the game strongly despite him sitting the starters with the result locked up.
“Again coming out of halftime it started with the defensive end getting stops and getting easy baskets. SoI’m really happy, I thought it was a good defensive effort, we held them to 26 field goal percentage and to hold a team under 50 points is really good.”
On the offensive end, co-captainsAlicia Froling and Courtney Woods shared top scoring honours, with 17 point hauls. The latter also secured 9 rebounds and registered 4 assists. Abbey Ellis had 3 to go along with 13 points but when it came to handing out gifts to team mates, Saffron Shiels was certainly in the spirit of giving, dishing out a game high 7 dimes. She also collected 8 rebounds and scored 10 points in another excellent performance from the bench. The 18 year old has embraced amore influential role recently thrust upon her.
“Yeah it’s definitely a good opportunity for me now that Zia’s gone. But also it’s really good to play off Lauren and Abbey, they’ve stepped up since she’s left, so it’s kind of easy when they’ve set the tone, and I can try and come in and keep that pace.”
And the guard’s growing in self-assurance.
“Yeah definitely, I feel like whenever you see the ball go in it gives you confidence, but I think I need to learn that even if it doesn’t, I still need to play with that aggression, like don’t back off from that.”
The players now have sometime off to enjoy Christmas and will return to training on Boxing Day before heir back in action on December 29 for a rare sundown showdown at home. It’s an afternoon encounter against Geelong, with tip off at 2.30pm. Tickets are available here.