ICE COLD COFFEY CLUTCH IN SEMI FINAL 1

Townsville’s semi-final showdown opening win in the west sets up the perfect scenario for game two. The series can now be wrapped out up in front of a packed Fire Pit. Where let’s face it… the orange army will likely be in for a few hold your breath moments, if the teams continue going toe to toe as they have been. Perth might have secured home court advantage after an epic overtime victory in the final game of the regular season but Townsville is now in the ascendancy after edging the playoff opener 87-92.

The visitors were right to anticipate another late Lynx comeback when they went ahead by 9 points midway through the fourth quarter, having previously held strong leads in the contest only for them to be whittled down. This time though the hosts hit the front in the dying stages. Step up a couple veterans… Lauren Mansfield sealed the result with clutch free throws after Nia Coffey’s crowd silencing triple put the Fire up by 4 points with under a minute left on the clock.

The import finished with six three pointers from seven attempts. Delivering daggers at an incredible 85% contributed to half of her remarkable 36 point haul. Two of which were buzzer beaters, the American ended the first period with a bang to put the Fire up by double digits before producing the same trick as time expired in the third quarter. The momentum changing shot, re-established Townsville’s lead after the Lynx levelled things up. While an ice cold Coffey proved too hot to handle, she was quick to distribute credit.

“It was very physical it was very fast paced but I thought we did a good job of keeping our composure and playing our game. We just played so well together and I just think we played team basketball and it worked out for us.”

Coach Shannon Seebohm was much happier with his side’s showing a week on from the second place shootout. He himself braced for a fightback from the home side who trailed by as much as 14, and as it turned out, what transpired gave his players a chance to show the lessons they learned.

“We lost that game very similar to this just a week ago and to see us handle the clutch time a little bit better, I think we still made probably a lot of mistakes that we’d like to clean up but really proud of my team for hanging in there and we found a way to win in a really tough environment.

While Wednesday night at the Fire Pit will be a more enjoyable environment to playi n, Seebohm doesn’t anticipate any easier battle.

“We know winning one game doesn’t mean anything and you know we need to go and finish it off at home and we’ll enjoy this for a bit but then get ready for that.”

Snap a ticket to ensure it’s a sell out,  there are still some available at this stage HERE