Basketball On The Internet.

FIRE starter Steph Reid tonight advanced her case for Opals consideration, steering Townsville to its 13th straight WNBL win with a solid 81-68 Game 1 success over Perth in their best-of-3 semi final series, delighting a big crowd of home fans at Townsville Entertainment Centre.

Whether bringing the ball upcourt and driving all the way to the hoop, sticking a triple or dishing to a teammate, Reid rattled and unsettled the Lynx en route to a game-high 24 points at 67 per cent, five rebounds, three assists and a steal.

With Karlie Samuelson as deadly as always from the perimeter and Shyla Heal value for minutes, the Fire held the edge throughout, weathering Lynx runs spearheaded by Sami Whitcomb (22 points, 5 assists) and Lauren Scherf (18 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, one block).

A late 11-0 outburst by Townsville ended this as a contest and set up the double-digit win.

But Reid was the stand-out, serving notice on Opals such as Whitcomb and Melbourne's Kristy Wallace that she now is in the conversation for potential national team quarterbacks.

WNBL SEMI FINAL SERIES (Best-of-3)
TOWNSVILLE FIRE (1) v PERTH LYNX (4)
Game 1: FIRE 81 (Reid 24, Heal 14, Samuelson 13, Hawkins 11; Ruef 12 rebs; Ruef, Reid 3 assts) d LYNX 68 (Whitcomb 22, Scherf 18, Ryan 10; Atwell 9 rebs; Whitcomb, Scherf 5 assts) at Townsville Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 2,989