Alice in Wonderland
After a defeat following an amazing 17 straight victories, the Fire wasted no time getting back to winning ways in round 3 of the WNBL. The defending champions led from start to finish against the Capitals claiming a comfortable 85-73 point home triumph. An aggressive Alice Kunek led all scorers. The forward dropped 27points, 15 from the perimeter.
“I think you’ve just got to keep moving without he ball and finding opportunities in the offence, go after rebounds, cuts, but just staying in the flow of the offence letting the ball work and you know just super grateful that the ball was able to find me and I knocked down shots.”
The Opal’s impressive display was a sign she’s feeling more in sync with herself and teammates after arriving at the club with a groin injury, which hindered her settling in process.
“I definitely feel like my body and my body and mind are clicking back together, and just missing that pre-season, it was really hard to miss the time with the girls but they’ve been awesome and Shannon’s been awesome getting me up to the speed of things. I worked pretty hard to get back and you know just trusting my body and you every day is getting better.”
Coach Shannon Seebohm was thrilled but not surprised the sharp shooting recruit delivered a standout performance.
“Alice was great, I thought we did a good job executing and I thought she was really aggressive. I think the girls did a good job moving the ball and she was the recipient of a couple nice open shots and you know obviously made some nice plays for us off the dribble as well. That’s sort of why we brought her here I know how good she is and I’m really excited that she’s here and to keep coaching her.”
He saved some praise for the longest serving player at the club. Zitina Aokuso’s lacked rebounds despite strong showings in the first two games. The centre dominated the glass against Canberra.
“She’s been really open to coaching and feedback this year, she knew the first couple of games she didn’t rebound well enough, and she had 10 boards and did a great job. I think she’s doing everything we need her todo, and I think she’s going to get better and better this season if she keeps it up.”
A crowd just shy of 2500 spectators gave Ella Tofaeono a warm welcome to the WNBL when she stepped onto the court in the final quarter for her debut. Saffron Shiels hit the floor in front of the orange army for the first time after making her debut in Bendigo at the start of the month. Townsville travels to Adelaide and Perth for round 4, in what will be an exhausting double header.
And are back at the Fire Pit on Wednesday 29th November -> Tickets here