By Marcus Uhe
It was a wire-to-wire thrashing for the Southside Flyers in the WNBL on Sunday at the State Basketball Centre as they fired a warning-shot to their rivals on the eve of the finals campaign.
Southside were never headed, running-out 19 point winners against the Perth Lynx, 102-83
The Flyers were firing on all cylinders early, as it felt they were shooting into a swimming pool.
They led by 24 points at one stage, as they made 62 per cent of their shots, and 71 per cent of their threes in the first term.
The points were shared among the starters, while Monique Conti nailed two long threes and Carly Ernst nine points, in what was a relentless onslaught on the offensive end.
On defence, Perth were stunned, taking low-percentage, contested looks as they felt the Flyers’ physicality, in desperation to close the gap.
So confident were the Flyers that Kayla Thornton even attempted an alley-oop in transition off a pass from Maddison Rocci.
The dominance continued in the second quarter as the lead ballooned to 27 after three minutes.
Rocci made frequent trips to the free-throw line as they looked to take advantage of the Lynx’s defence, but left points on the floor, as she only shot 50 per cent at the line.
Ernst continued to make Perth pay, reaching 18 at the half having made every two-point field goal she attempted.
Perth managed to briefly put the brakes on, as Southside became careless with the ball, but the Flyers were superior in all major statistics by the long break, going into half-time with a 21-point lead, 59-38.
The air seemed to go out of the game after half-time, with the contest largely out of reach.
Rocci’s foul trouble, picking-up a fourth early in the term, meant Conti had to shoulder more responsibility in handling the ball and with that came less safety than the primary point-guard.
The Flyers’ ability to get hands into passing lanes remained, however, disrupting passes and forcing turnovers regularly, before capitalising with fast-break points at the other end.
Perth’s Sami Whitcomb maintained the intensity despite the significant deficit, but she was running a one-woman show, as the margin continued to hover around the 20-point mark.
The physicality was on full-display with the rebound count, with the Flyers taking a 14-rebound ascendency at the final term, along with a 19-point lead.
The gap became 30 early in the term as the Flyers continued to find the basket with relative ease.
Conti appeared to pick-up a minor injury, but her stint on the bench lasted mere seconds, as Rocci returned only to immediately pick up her fifth and final foul.
The final margin was cut back to 19, as some of Southside’s lesser-known players saw court-time in the remaining minutes.
Ernst’s 20th and 21st points put the Flyers into triple figures as they achieved their third-highest team score of the year, reaching 102 in a comprehensive beat down on the Lynx, finishing 19-point victors.
The overwhelming advantage on the boards (+14), assists (+9) and bench points (+20) emphasised the true extent of their authority on the contest as they improved to a record of six wins, one loss at the State Basketball Centre.
Ernst led the way in scoring as five of her teammates scored in double figures, including Rebecca Cole (19), while Sara Blicavs’ 12 points 11 rebounds and four assists earned her a team-high +31 on the box score.
The Flyers return to Rowville on Wednesday night to host the Melbourne Boomers in their second-last game of the season.
