The disappointment at the loss in Townsville on Sunday is still raw but there can be no disappointment at the way the Flyers attacked the finals and gave everything in such a hard-fought game 3 of the semi-final series.
Townsville Fire finished top of the ladder with just four losses for the season and most expected them to waltz through to the Championship Series and it looked that way in the opening game of the 3-game series. However, your Flyers were quick to silence the critics and took the series right up to the Fire.
In the end it was not to be, but it certainly wasn’t for lack of intent and desire. We could not be prouder of the team and the way they continued to fight right to the very last minute of game 3. In big games like Sunday’s there are little things that can make all the difference, a missed shot, an unlucky call, and for the Flyers, that was the story of the day.
A controversial foul on Cayla George in the second quarter, her third in a few minutes, completely changed the momentum of the game, providing the Fire with more confidence to go inside while impacting the Flyers inside strength.
The 10-point loss (84-74) does not reflect how tight the game was. Ater leading early, the Flyers fell behind during the second period but continued to fight back with the biggest lead of the game being 11-points by the Fire, after the Flyers had led by 7 earlier. With 3-minutes remaining the difference was 4-points (78-74) and with 46-seconds to play the score remained 78-74. During this period the Flyers looked more likely to score but were unable to hit the key shots, including a 3-pointer that rimmed out. This would have certainly set up an exciting last minute of play. It was not to be, and the Fire were able to break the drought from the line to finish with the final 6-points of the game, all from the free throw line,
It has been an up and down season for the Flyers, but the team saved their best for the last two games and were close to moving into the Championship Series. In the end it is a case of almost, and what could have been, and while we are not doing battle for the Championship, this performance of this team on Wednesday and Sunday is something we can all be very proud of.
While the Lynx and Fire get set to fight it out for the title, we now start the process of preparing to be an even better team in the 2026/27 season.
