Micaela Cocks named MVP
Three-time WNBL championship winner Micaela Cocks has capped off a white-hot winter to be named MVP of the Townsville Flames for 2018.
The New Zealand Olympian has been simply brilliant in the QBL this season as she guided the Flames (15-3) to the minor championship.
The Flames will host North Gold Coast on Saturday night in a cut-throat quarter-final looking to clinch their first QBL title in a decade.
Having steered New Zealand to a bronze medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Cocks then backed it up by being named MVP of the FIBA 3 x 3 Asia Cup as the Tall Ferns secured gold.
Over the QBL season, Cocks has been one of the competition’s premier point guards after averaging 17.0 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists while shooting more than 41% from beyond the arc.
Cocks was also named the players’ player.
Meanwhile, Darcee Garbin, fresh off making her Chemist Warehouse Opals debut, was named the Flames’ defensive player of the year.
An MVP candidate in her own right, Garbin averaged a team-high 20.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.1 steals for the season.
Former Fire development player Miela Goodchild was named the under-23 youth player of the year, while WNBL championship winner Ainsley Walsh won the coach’s award.