North Finals | Flames stun Dolphins to reach GF

The Townsville Flames scored the last four points of the semi-final to stun the Cairns Dolphins on their home floor to win 94-90 and advance to the NBL1 North Grand Final with Courtney Woods getting plenty of help from Mia Murray and Chailee Ward.

The Dolphins had won the opening nine games of the NBL1 North season and still finished up in second position at 13-3 to earn the week off the open the finals last weekend.

Townsville ended up third at 11-5 and then had to overcome the Southern Districts Spartans last weekend to set up the semi-final match up with Cairns at Trinity Ford Stadium with a spot in the Grand Final series next weekend on the line.

Townsville made the flying start with an early 11-0 run to lead by 11 but Cairns hit back with nine straight points themselves and by quarter-time the scores were all locked at 28-28.

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Cairns were shooting at 69 per cent with Leichan Williams already having eight points off the bench while Townsville were going at 61 per cent with 4/10 from the outside Courtney Woods scoring 13 already.

There was then no more than three points that separated the two teams the entire second quarter and Cairns were clinging to the 49-47 advantage by half-time while they were still shooting 58 per cent but Townsville slipped down to 46 on the back of going 6/19 in that second frame.

Loyd was delivering another huge performance for the Dolphins with 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists while Woods had 20 for the Flames and Mia Murray 10.

Cairns managed to open up a nine-point lead in the third quarter and Loyd had already delivered her triple double with 22 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, but Townsville did hit back and limited the Dolphins lead to 73-70 by three quarter-time with Murray scoring another nine points.

That set up a big finish with a Grand Final spot on the line and the last quarter opened up with Chailee Ward and Loyd trading huge threes for their respective teams.

Brooke Basham then went on a 6-0 run of her own to give Cairns a five-point lead but Bree Stephens answered from the outside for Townsville before Ward also hit another three and put the Flames back in front.

Murray extended that lead to four with three free throws only for Cairns to draw back level with Taryn Bond scored with 30 seconds to play.

Stephens then put Townsville back up two before Cairns came up empty on their biggest possession of the season and the Flames iced the win with two free throws from Ward to win by four and not only make the Grand Final, but earn hosting rights for the series against the Mackay Meteorettes.

The Flames finished up getting off 10 more shots than Cairns on the back of 16 offensive rebounds to eight, and forcing the Dolphins into 15 turnovers.

MVP winner Courtney Woods was outstanding again with 24 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and three steals, but she also had plenty of help.

Mia Murray delivered 22 points and six rebounds with 5/12 three-point shooting with Chailee Ward contributing 20 points and two assists, Bree Stephens 14 points, three rebounds and three assists, and Ella Tofaeono eight points and eight boards.

It's a tough way for such a strong season from Cairns to come to an end especially on a night where they did still shoot 54 per cent from the field and 14/20 at the foul line, but having a six-player rotation proved tough to maintain against the Flames.

Mia Loyd had another stunning performance with a triple double made up of 27 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists with 8/14 shooting from the field and 9/11 at the foul line.

Brooke Basham provided another 21 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals with Taryn Bond adding 16 points, seven boards and four assists, Summah Evans 13 points and five rebounds, and Leichan Williams 11 points and three boards.

NBL1 NORTH 2026 SEASON | SEMI FINALS

CAIRNS DOLPHINS 90 (Loyd 27, Basham 21, Bond 16)

TOWNSVILLE FLAMES 94 (Woods 24, Murray 22, Ward 20)