Cairns Cliff Fall Not Fatal For Sydney Local

Townsville Fire 73

Sydney Uni Flames 59

Police are reporting that a Sydneysider is unharmed after falling from a six metre cliff into the Pacific Ocean on Sunday afternoon. Initially taken to hospital for mandatory testing, the Sydney University graduate is back at her accommodation in good spirits, but a little red-faced. Onlookers report she was running along the Cairns coastline with an associate when they could no longer see the Darlington local. Minutes later she was seen swimming back to shore, shocked but injury free from the ordeal. A Townsville woman is being questioned by investigators to see if foul play was involved in the incident. Charges are not expected to be made.

The Sydney Uni Flames started out hot Sunday afternoon, but a defiant Townsville Fire outfit held Sydney to two single digit quarters in the second half and extinguished the Flames (not the Fire) in polorising affair. From an outside chance at cracking the century mark at the half, the Flames were unable to reach 60 by the final buzzer, putting a probable end to their 2020 season in the process. Glad Wrap's Queensland offices may have sneaked some advertising to the ABC broadcast as Sydney was unable to sniff a basket for majority of the second half. The Flames misfortunes were not from a lack of effort though, shot after shot rattled out with soul crushing constancy as their lead slipped away and never came back.

Townsville played a full game, hanging around in the first half and dominating on the defensive end in the second. A fifteen point run in the third quarter flipped the game script on its head and allowed the Fire to cruise to a relatively easy win. Not gaining a 10 point lead until the final two minutes, the result never looked in doubt as Townsville's defensive effort on entry passes to the paint and hustle on drives from outside forced Sydney into 16 turnovers and tough contested shots.

Lauren Scherf looked unstoppable to start for the Flames, scoring 18 points and securing 11 rebounds in the first 21 minutes, but she was held scoreless the remainder of the game. Lauren Mansfield looked quick and fluid with her ball handling in the first half, splitting defenders with frequency and running the offense with ease, she was met by a rejuvenated Shyla Heal in the second stanza, stonewalling her flow and turning that into a Player Of The Game performance on the offensive end. Hitting two long stepbacks in the third quarter, Heal took over after the break and didn't look back, taking her shots and looking unapologetically confident with each of them. While not blowing up the scoreboard, her energy and magnetising play makes her an intriguing prospect for Australian basketball at such a young age.

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- I can't fathom Lauren Nicholson playing after breaking her nose yesterday. I'd be in ER omitting close family members from my will in similar circumstances.

- The cowbell that rings out while Townsville's opponents take free-throws needs to be locked in a vault and thrown overboard into the Mariana Trench, nuclear bomb testing can then be performed on the site.

- If the WNBL doesn't introduce a Name Of The Year award and present it to Alison Schwagmeyer-Belger annually until she retires, it is an indictment on the organisation as a whole.

- An off-season playoff scenarios between these two teams, of which the loser chooses a new team name that doesn't involve heat emitting combustion, can also be initiated ASAP. Sydney Uni HELP Debts has a nice ring to it.