Townsville Fire doused by Perth Lynx as coach Ryan Petrik calls WNBL scheduling into question
The Townsville Fire clutched defeat from the jaws of victory on Sunday, losing to Perth 87-86 in an overtime thriller, but Lynx coach Ryan Petrik wasn’t as happy as you’d think. Find out why.
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The Townsville Fire clutched defeat from the jaws of victory on Sunday, losing to Perth 87-86 in an overtime thriller after giving up a six-point lead with 41 seconds on the clock.
A litany of errors gave the Lynx an opportunity to sneak back into the contest and a late turnover allowed Alex Ciabattoni to suck the life out of the building with a dagger three-point shot as time elapsed.
It means the Fire will begin their finals campaign on the road next week, however Townsville is guaranteed to host at least one more match on Wednesday, February 26, in semi-final game 2.
The Fire and Lynx will meet again in the semi-finals but Perth has earnt the all-important hosting rights for game 1 – potentially saving themselves from a second trip to Townsville.
A disappointed Townsville coach Shannon Seebohm said his side needed to work on their execution.
“We took 14 more shots than they did, we had 25 offensive rebounds. We were in the driver’s seat,” Seebohm said.
“We led for 35 minutes of the game but credit to them – they executed way better than we did, they were way more disciplined than we were. They wanted it slightly more than we probably did, and they made big plays down the stretch.
“I need to be better down the stretch coaching as well. I didn’t handle the last few minutes well, the last couple of time-outs well, so that’s on me, and I’ll make sure I’m better in the next game.”
The Fire were lucky to take the game to overtime when Nia Coffey tied the match with a long-range two-point shot.
Trailing 75-73, Lauren Cox got a clean look at three in the final 10 seconds but her shot bounced away from the rim, falling to Abbey Ellis who found Coffey to level the scores.
Townsville had shot out of the gates with an emphatic first quarter, racing to an 11-point lead at the first break after suffocating defence kept the visitors to just six baskets from 18 shots.
But the healthy lead quickly evaporated as Perth’s shooters got hot. The Lynx are never out of a game and they can score a lot of points in a hurry due to the frenetic pace they play at.
The two teams traded blows but the Fire remained slightly ahead until Perth hit the lead for the first time with less than six minutes to play thanks to a Miela Sowah layup.
Sowah had a relatively quiet night for her standards this season but she made an impact when it counted in the late stages.
Perth coach Ryan Petrik said the result could have easily gone either way.
“It’s a flip of a coin. With all due respect, it’s tough – really tough – and there’s not much between these two teams,” Petrik said.
“As we’ve found out for the third straight year, we get to keep playing each other for a reason. You don’t get to play each other if you’re seventh and eighth, you only get to play each other again and again if you’re top four.
“It’s a messy game, especially with how we play, and there’s a fair bit of chaos in our style, maybe not that much chaos coming out of time-outs, but Townsville will put you in tough positions and you try not stuff it up as much as you can.”
WNBL SCHEDULING COMES INTO QUESTION
Perth Lynx coach Ryan Petrik has questioned the WNBL’s decision to schedule a match between Townsville and Perth on the final day of the regular season as both clubs prepare for finals.
The league’s two most remote teams played out an electrifying overtime thriller on Sunday afternoon with Perth guard Alex Ciabattoni draining a matchwinning three-pointer with less than five seconds on the clock to douse the fire 87-86.
Both clubs were then expected to be in Melbourne on Monday night for the WNBL Awards night, before meeting each other in Perth on Saturday for game 1 of the semi-finals.
Petrik was baffled by the league’s scheduling choices.
“It would seem crazy that the final (round) of the season you’d make Townsville travel twice and Perth go all the way to Townsville,” Petrik said.
“That seems not smart. And again, ignoring the whole ‘Perth and Townsville play each other every year in the finals’, that’s irrelevant.
“And we understand we’ve got to be in Melbourne tomorrow, so if you want to make us travel, sure.
“I don’t know who travels the most, but it’d be Perth and Townsville by a mile. I don’t know who would be third, because the other six teams all live next to each other.
“So to end the season, let’s make Townsville play twice in the final round, and let’s make Perth go to Townsville. That doesn’t seem super intelligent, but again, head office is not in Perth or Townsville.
“Find where head office is, and you’ll find the answer.”
It was a scathing swipe from the Lynx head coach who is leading Perth into its fourth consecutive finals season in his fifth year at the helm.
Perth will be back in Townsville on Wednesday, February 26, to play game 2 of the semi-finals.
The Bendigo Spirit head into finals as heavy favourites to claim the championship, and they will meet the Sydney Flames in the other semi-final.
Originally published as Townsville Fire doused by Perth Lynx as coach Ryan Petrik calls WNBL scheduling into question
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