By Marcus Uhe
A vintage performance from superstar Lauren Jackson and some clutch defence in the fourth quarter pushed the Southside Flyers to a thrilling win over the Sydney Flames in the WNBL on Wednesday 18 January at Sydney’s Quaycentre.
Jackson, who revealed earlier in the week that she had been playing through the pain of a fractured foot since December, had a game-high 30 points and shot 71 per cent from two-point range as the Flyers recovered from a seven-point deficit early in the last quarter to record a 96-91 win.
Southside jumped out of the blocks to record an 8-0 lead after 90 seconds, forcing Flames stand-in coach Shelley Gorman to call an early timeout.
Both teams were hell-bent on shooting the three early, with the Flyers making seven and the Flames five in the first term.
Jackson, who finished the quarter with 12 points, looked in superb touch from the get-go, both from the three-point line and in the post, where she displayed her physicality with some strong finishes over her much smaller opponents.
Opening the second quarter with a six-point lead, the Flyers kept feeding the hot-hand of their superstar, because, well, why wouldn’t you?
The margin extended to 11 points, but sloppy turnovers and poor offensive execution saw the Flames reign them back, cutting it to four at the 3.20 mark.
Jocelyn Willoughby and Tiana Mangakahia were leading the fightback for the home side, who were continuing to let the ball fly from distance.
Jackson and guard Maddison Rocci restored the 11-point late in the term, but a three from Sydney’s Vanessa Panousis on the halftime buzzer meant they only took a two-point advantage into the long break, despite 21 from Jackson.
The chance to talk things over behind closed doors resulted in a change of approach for the Flames, who decided to double-team Jackson when she got the ball in the post.
She dug-in to her bag of tricks with a beautiful reverse layup early in the term, but the new strategy was proving effective for the Flames, who took the lead at the 3.45 mark at 66-67 as scoring began to dry-up.
Willoughby, who didn’t miss a three-point shot all night, led the fightback as Sydney took a four-point lead into the last break.
Another three early in the quarter pushed the lead to seven, the biggest margin Sydney reached all night.
With a heavy focus on Jackson still, it was time for others to step-up for the Flyers.
Kayla Thornton, who had gone quiet since scoring five of the first eight points of the game, was on the receiving end of a Jackson skip-pass out of the double team to nail a big shot from beyond the arc, as scoring became harder and harder the longer the game went.
But it was the Flyer’s defence down the stretch that proved the difference.
Between a free-throw for a technical foul against the visitors’ coaching staff at the two-minute mark, and a Mangakahia jump shot at the 3.50 mark, the Flames were held scoreless.
Following that, they didn’t trouble the scorers again for three minutes, a period in which the Flyers scored nine and took the lead at 87-86 with a Thornton layup.
On a short turnaround from Friday night’s clash in Perth, where they themselves were held to just 13 points in the final term, Southside kept Sydney to a miserly 11.
Their commitment and tenacity on that end of the floor was exemplified by 18-year-old Nyadiew Puoch, who flew from the weak side to the opposite corner to block a three-pointer from Sydney’s Kiera Rowe with nine seconds left, that would have cut the lead to one.
Three clutch free-throws from Sara Blicavs in the final minute pushed their lead to five, as they managed to close-out an impressive win on the road, sparking jubilant celebrations on the bench.
All Southside’s starters scored in double figures aside from Blicavs (eight), with Rocci (18 points seven assists) and Thornton (16 points eight rebounds) the other leading scorers, to go with Jackson’s 30.
Their difficult road-trip continues on Saturday night, with a trip to the Nation’s capital to face Canberra.
