Townsville Flames captain Harriet Carey is banking on a boost from their home crowd to help them in Sunday's must-win NBL1 North clash against Rockhampton at ‘The Furnace’.
The sixth-placed Flames take on the Cyclones from 1:00pm, with a win over their regional rivals crucial to keeping their playoffs hopes alive.
Ahead of their final home game of the season, Carey said her team has been hard at work in training as they look to continue the strong form that has guided them to three wins in their last four games.
“We've had some good wins in our last few games, and it’s great to build that momentum coming into this must win game against Rocky,” she said.
“If we want to advance to the finals, we really need to get the season split over them so it's going to be very important for us to prepare well.
“We are working hard in training, keeping the intensity up, and we’re going to be ready to play come game time.”
With Rockhampton just one spot behind the Flames in the standings, a win Sunday will go a long way to booking their spot in the finals.
Having momentum going into finals is always a good thing, you don't want to be going into finals on a down and just scraping just scraping through,” Carey said.
“It’s a great opportunity we have in front of our home crowd and it’s definitely very exciting for our group.
“We just need to keep working hard, focusing on what we’ve been doing all season and get the job done.”
While the Heat’s playoffs hopes have ended, they are determined to end their season on a high and battle to a win in their final home game of the campaign.
Townsville scored a huge Round 2 win over the Rockets in Mackay and swingman Richard Peachey is hoping his team can produce more of the same to their regional rivals Sunday.
“We take a lot of confidence comes from beating them first at home in Rocky, which is a tough place to play,” he said.
“I think it's just going to be one of those games where the boys are up for it and wanting a win as a bit of a morale booster.
“We've had some close games that didn't go our way and I don't think our record realty reflects the sort of the season we've had. So we all want to finish on a strong note, especially in front of our home fans.”
The Flames take on the Cyclones at Carmichael Ford Stadium from 1:00pm Sunday before the Heat face the Rockets at 3:00pm.
