Fire shine on & off the court
Shannon Seebohm has been named WNBL coach of the year for a third time, after leading the JCU Fire back to the finals. It’s the second time in three seasons he’s secured the award having won it during the hub competition, played out in North Queensland, in 2020. He led Townsville to second spot on the ladder on that occasion, his side went one better this time though, dropping just four of 21 games. Seebohm’s not content with a minor premiership. The 34 year old craves a Championship, not so much for himself however, rather the region and especially the playing group.
“That has been my goal since I arrived in Townsville, to deliver a fourth championship to the community. And I just want to see the players enjoy the process and if we win, see what it means to them, it would be a great reward to them. It would be the best accomplishment to be able to see us do that.”
Tianna Hawkins polled plenty of votes late in the MVP count but ultimately fell short. The import was named in the league’s team of the year after an incredible first season in the orange, while captain Lauren Nicholson was selected in the second side, despite her injury interruptions. Point Guard Steph Reid received the Golden Hand award for her league leading assists and steals.
Reid dished out seven dimes and dropped 12 points against southside on Saturday night. Tianna Hawkins, Courtney Woods and Mikaela Ruef finished with 13, the latter falling one rebound short of a double double. Karlie Samuelson collected seven boards to go with a game high 16 points. The Fire made it 12 straight victories in an impressive pre-playoff performance, leading all the way against a fellow finalist, to claim a comfortable 83-61 triumph.
The Fire have re-written the history books regardless of what happens next. Their club record streak will hopefully increase, while 17 wins during the regular season gave Townsville a winning percentage of 81%, the best in its history. The club can also be proud of the attendances over the course of the competition. The Fire Pit hosted 11 games, 23,734 spectators watched the action with an average of 2158 fans per game. Courtney Woods is anticipating another attendance record for Thursday night’s clash with Perth despite the home semi’s midweek time slot.
“And we play at an amazing venue where we can keep opening up more and more seats. So I think those fans definitely become our sixth player and its incredible to play there and play in that environment and obviously it’s really helped us.”
Don’t miss your chance to purchase tickets to what’s bound to be an exciting evening of basketball when they go on sale to the general public on Tuesday at 9am, get your tickets here