Fire Cops Capital Punishment In Townsville

The Fire fell behind early and never recovered against Canberra in round five of the WNBL.

The hosts had no answers on New Year’s Eve, eventually going down by 24 points.

While acting Capitals coach Kennedy Kereama commended the visitors’ performance, he acknowledged they caught their opponents on an off night.

“Give credit to our group but I will tell you this much I know Townsville will bounce back, they’re too good of a team and they’ve got too good of a coach.”

Canberra’s Kelsey Griffin filled the stats sheets. She scored 20 points, delivered eight assists and pulled down nine rebounds, The forward’s determination to win loose balls, highlighted her side’s attitude across the four quarters.

“We usually are way more aggressive, assertive and physical with each other in training and it doesn’t always translate into games, so it’s nice to see some of that intensity that we train with carrying over into games.”

Fire coach Shannon Seebohm knows it’s an area Townsville must improve.

“We just need to be more physical, you know pressure passing lanes pressure the ball a bit better. And when we do play great defence for 20 seconds and then they shoot a contested shot and they get the ball straight back, it’s pretty deflating.”

Steph Reid wrestled hard to get stops. She sparked the crowd into life by denying Canberra’s Britney Sykes scoring opportunities. The Point guard drew a charge from the American and deflected a pass intended for the import. Passages of play which weren’t overlooked by Seebohm despite the result.

“Steph gets her role, she comes in and brings everything we need every time she gets on the floor, and you know I thought she did a good job overall in the game.”

Reid also led in offence. She scored eleven of the Fire’s 52 points.

Our women will look to bounce back from consecutive defeats when they hit the court against Adelaide on Friday night.

The game is the first of a double header at the Entertainment Centre in round six.

The Fire will also battle Bendigo at home next Sunday.