Townsville Fire prepare for the WNBL final against Bendigo Spirit. Picture: Zak Simmonds Source: Zak Simmonds / News Corp Australia
IT will be bigger than Texas in Townsville on Sunday.
The city has been painted red and back and swept by basketball fever with the Townsville Fire hosting the Bendigo Spirit in the WNBL decider this afternoon.
The build-up has been electric with the 2,200-capacity Townsville RSL Stadium selling out in 45 minutes.
A special live site in the centre of town with a big screen has been setup and a local cinema will show the feed of the nationally-televised match.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and North Queensland Cowboys superstar Johnathan Thurston and his teammates will be courtside.
Country music star Adam Brand will sing the national anthem while golf legend and proud north Queenslander Karrie Webb has been pumping up the game on Twitter.
Just one thing remains.
A Fire victory to deliver Townsville its first major national sporting title.
"We had three goals to start the season. Make the finals, get a home grand final and win the championship,'' Fire coach Chris Lucas said.
"We've got one to go.
"The support we have received from the community has been unbelievable. It's been crazy the last couple of weeks. If we can secure the championship, it would mean a great deal to the city and north Queensland.
"It's now a matter of performing on the day. That's what counts.
"These are the games you work for. You try and treat it like a normal game but it's not. It's a championship game.
"We know we've done the work and we are in a good place both physically and mentally.''
This is the third consecutive year that Townsville and Bendigo have met in the decider.
The Fire were extinguished by the Spirit the past two years when Townsville were forced to go on the road for the season showpiece.
Townsville thumped Bendigo 82-63 in the semi-final two weeks ago to earn the home grand final but only a victory today will count as any sort of revenge.
"The girls have been fairly determined to get back to this point,'' Lucas said.
"We have been extremely disappointed the past two years. We've always believed we could go to another level and contend for a title again.
"Bendigo are an extremely tough team but we feel like we can match it with them.
"They are a high-scoring team with depth on their bench. We need to spread the load defensively.''
The vastly experienced Suzy Batkovic shapes as the most important player for the Fire today but Lucas says the triple Olympic medallist, dual WNBL MVP and former WNBA player cannot do it by herself.
"It can't all be about Suzy. When we've played our best, we've had four or five girls in double figures. Suzy will do her job but we need everybody to bring what they bring each week,'' he said.
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