‘Enough is enough’: How Perth Lynx can batter its way to WNBL final after beating Townsville

The Lynx will look to emulate their brutal physicality when the Townsville Fire come to town for a do-or-die semi-final clash on Sunday.

Amy Atwell of the Lynx drives to the basket during game one of the WNBL Semi Final series. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

Perth coach Ryan Petrik admitted his physical Lynx squad planned to test the referees as they beat up reigning champion Townsville to draw first blood in their best-of-three semi-final clash.

Petrik’s stunning admission poured more fuel on an emerging rivalry that has bubbled ever since the Fire bundled the Lynx out of last year’s semi-finals in straight sets.

The fiery declaration turns up the heat on the referees as the series swings to Perth, where the bruised Fire now face the prospect of a win-or-go-home clash in enemy territory.

“Generally the refs will let you play a bit more come finals time,” Petrik said after his side’s 88-87 triumph.

“Our first game up here they called 13 fouls to 11 or whatever it was for the entire night.

Petrik said his team refused to be bullied by Townsville. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

“Win, lose or draw – we’ll lose a scrap, we’ll lose a fight, we’re just not going to get beaten up by these guys any longer.

“They’ve bullied us for a while. We know they’re loaded with talent, but they just always seem to win the physical fight against us.

“Enough is enough.”

Perth played with a burning passion that sometimes boiled over into outright roughness.

The physical affair took its toll on Townsville. Mikaela Ruef tried to play through an early ankle injury but had to come off, while Sami Whitcomb demonstrated her toughness by returning to the court after rolling her ankle on the stroke of halftime.

Townsville coach Shannon Seebohm said a lack of discipline kept his side out of the arm wrestle.

“I don’t think we really got the chance to be physical today,” Seebohm said.

“It’s a bit of a common theme but two starters on four fouls, and I think we were ill disciplined on defence in general.

Fire coach Shannon Seebohm looks on during game one. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

“We didn’t stick to our scout and (Perth) did a great job. They were physical, they held their own, they pressured us, they did all those things.

“It’s one of those games and unfortunately we were on the wrong side of it so now we’ve got to adjust and get ready to go to Perth and square it up.”

Perth’s big hitters Aari McDonald (26) and Amy Atwell (24) combined for 50 points on the night including draining an incredible eight of 14 three-point shots – both finishing with four.

Aari McDonald scored a game-high 26 points and made nine assists. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

Prolific point guard McDonald made half of her 20 attempts from the field and dropped a game-high nine dimes.

Seebohm said his side would have to be better on Sunday.

“I was pretty disappointed with that defence today to be honest with you,” Seebohm said.

“That’s something we’ll certainly need to take a look at and make some adjustments there.

“I just felt like we let their two best players run amok and do way too much and that wasn’t part of the plan.

“Today the 87 points we scored is probably enough to win in the finals, but giving up 88 to 90 is not going to get it done.

“If we defend even just a little bit better than today– I hope we defend a lot better in the next game – but even just a little bit better, I think the result is different.”

Originally published as ‘Enough is enough’: How Perth Lynx can batter its way to WNBL final after beating Townsville