ANDREW ALOIA  |  July 23rd, 2011 | Townsville Bulletin

TOWNSVILLE were too stubborn to let Cairns embarrass them at QN Stadium last night.

A dogged defensive performance by the Heat made up for a fumbling offensive showing by the competition pacesetters, with the hosts holding on for a 70-65 QBL win against their arch rivals.

The steadying presence of guard Chris Cedar late in the game and constant hustle inside by captain Daniel Egan made up for Townsville's lack of offensive cohesion.

Coach Liam Flynn praised the duo after the game, but was quick to demand more of the league-leading outfit heading toward the play-offs.

"Eags was just a beast out there and I thought Chris did another excellent job for us," Flynn said.

"But offensively we really were disjointed tonight. It's our defence, keeping them to 65 and a shooting percentage of 39, that did it for us.

"We knew this was a danger game, we got out of jail. So we flush it and move on."

With a 21-point buffer and trick shots starting to be paraded in the third term - including a Egan alley-oop dished up by Cedar - Townsville looked to be toying with a team playing for season survival. But the combination of desperate scrambling against a haphazard Townsville offence and an at times scintillating shooting display from Cairns forward Dwayne Vale, netting four-successive three-pointers either side of the final break, reduced the deficit to two with less than five minutes remaining.

Earlier, teenager Kayla Ward inspired the Townsville Flames to a stirring come-from-behind four-point win against a Rohanee Cox led-Cairns Dolphins.

Down by as many as 11 points in the second term, the little-fancied Flames rattled the third-placed visitors with 14 unanswered points either side of half-time to wrestle the advantage back. Ward was instrumental in the 76-72 triumph with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebound. Former WNBL MVP and Opals starlet Cox looked right at home at the arena she ruled as skipper of the Townsville Fire, netting 27 points and pulling down 17 boards.

Victory wasn't enough to resuscitate Townsville's finals bid, but Ward said it should serve as a warning that life remains in the unheralded outfit.

TOWNSVILLE HEAT 70 (D Egan 21 pts 9 rbds T Blanchfield 17 pts 6 rbds C Cedar 17 pts 3 asst) d CAIRNS MARLINS 65 (D Vale 19 pts 8 rbds D Brebner 12 pts)

TOWNSVILLE FLAMES 76 (K Ward 20 pts 10 rbds, A Edgar 14 pts 8 rbds, J Haughton 12 pts 6 rbds 5 asst, V Horne 11 pts 5 rbds) d CAIRNS DOLPHINS 72 (R Cox 29 pts 17 rbds, N Pedro 9 pts 4 asst N Cameron 7 pts 9 rbds)