The Sydney Flames won consecutive games for the first time this season, handing Perth Lynx their second straight loss in the process, with a 86-75 win in an at times physical clash at Sydney’s QuayCentre on Saturday night.
Opals veteran Cayla George headed into the match requiring 14 points to move to number four on the WNBL all-time scoring list and 5000 points, and the Flames star exploded out of the blocks with 11 points in the first quarter.
It was an entertaining, fast moving and slightly frantic start to the game, with both sides getting up and down the court quickly. Sydney we’re shooting the ball with 50% accuracy, while Perth were at just 29%, but their dominance on the offensive rebounds (eight compared to Sydney’s two) gave them 13 second chance points in the opening quarter.
While George was dominant for Sydney early on, so was Perth’s Canadian Olympian Laeticia Amihere - she had six points but it could have been more, nailing just one of her five free throw shots. With Flames tall Mikaela Ruef managing an injury and playing limited minutes, 20yr old guard Carla Pitman was thrown into the ‘four’ position, and had an instant impact with six first quarter points - all of them coming from tough drives to the basket against older, taller opponents.
As impressive as Sydney were, a last second three pointer to Lynx guard Miela Sowah cut the deficit to just three at quarter time.
The second quarter was a similar story, with Flames star guard Shaneice Swain doubling her six points from the opening quarter, however Sydney clearly addressed the rebounding issues from the first quarter, not allowing a single offensive board to Perth in the quarter while picking up five themselves. That may have had something to do with Amihere finding herself in a bit of foul trouble by the end of the half, but Gangurrus 3x3 star Ally Wilson was keeping Perth in the contest with some important baskets. She led the visitors with 12 points in the first half.
Undoubtedly the highlight of the second quarter, and indeed the match, was Cayla George draining a three pointer from the corner to score her 5000th point, taking her to fourth on the all-time WNBL scoring list.
After the game, George spoke about reaching the milestone, which sees her join Suzy Batkovic, Rachael Sporn and Shellie Sandie as the only ones to do it.
“I really just wanted to get it out of the way. I was pretty anxious about it, I didn’t want to drag it over multiple games. I was like, ‘oh, I’ll just get it done.’ In turn, it helped me really focus and prepare for how Guy wanted us to attack today.”
The last time these two teams met just a couple of weeks ago, Sydney dominated the first half, before running out of legs and being overrun by Perth, and there were signs tonight that a repeat was on the cards. Lynx reduced the Flames’ lead early in the third quarter, and the Sydney scoring began to dry up, with just five points in the first six minutes of the quarter. However Perth were only doing marginally better, and while they got within one possession of the lead, they couldn’t find the game-tying score. As Lynx coach Ryan Pertik said after the game,
“We fought for as long as we could. We couldn’t hit the side of a barn, especially from the foul line, especially in that third quarter.”
To echo Ryan’s point, Perth were just 2/6 from the free throw line in that quarter, and finished with a disappointing 6/16 for the match, as opposed to Sydney’s efficient 9/11.
Some important plays from Pitman and Bella Bracatisiano late in the quarter helped give the Flames some breathing space, while a George block on Miela Sowah at a crucial time led to a turnover and Emma Clarke running away for a crucial layup.
An already physical clash went to another level in the final quarter, highlighted by a clash with three minutes to go between Opals bronze medal teammates George and Amy Atwell. The collision between the two left Atwell in pain on the floor and was assisted from the court with a limp. An unhappy Coach Pirtek copped a tech foul for voicing his objections to the incident. After the game, the Perth mentor chose his words carefully, saying,
“The refs put the whistles away and let them play rugby, and Atwell hurts herself.”
With Perth star Amihere fouling out with over six minutes to go, the Flames ran out the game to win by 11 points, with Cayla George finishing with a big double double of 28 points and 14 rebounds, while Shaneice Swain made it back-to-back 20 point games. Despite this, Flames coach Guy Molloy pointed out the importance of the role played by 20yr old Pitman, who he described as being the second most important player on the court behind Cayla.
“She plays hard and she’s just got a really good instinct about how to get open. It wasn’t a game for our imports so much, but those young players did a great job… they were invaluable with their energy.”
Cayla George, who always has a team-first mentality, reflected on ticking off the 5000 point milestone.
“I didn’t want it to be about me, I wanted it to be about the win. And I really didn’t want to get it and then not win the game, so I was even more motivated after it was done.”
Of the team securing a second straight win, both by double digit margins, the Opals veteran said,
“We’re really starting to turn a corner and see the fruits of our labour.”
HER WAY caught up with Carla Pitman after her best performance to date in the WNBL (13pts/5reb) in the video below, which featured members of the Carla Pitman fan club in the background.