Basketball On The Internet.

A MASSIVE offensive rebound and assist by Chantel Horvat followed by a match tying 3-point bomb from Miela Sowah forcing overtime, tonight underpinned Townsville's fifth WNBL championship success when it rocked the Lynx 108-105 in Perth in one of the all-time great Grand Finals.

With 41 lead changes, a career-high 28 points from the Fire's Rachael Sporn Medallist Courtney Woods, huge baskets late, some diabolical refereeing decisions and a major miscalculation by Perth coach Ryan Petrik, Game 2 of the Grand Finals pretty much had everything.

Theatre, drama, you name it, Game 2 - which completed a 2-0 sweep for the championship by Townsville after it controlled Game 1 at home 88-79 - was as good as it gets.

But there also can be no doubt that Fire coach Shannon Seebohm, completely outfoxed by Bendigo's Kennedy Kereama for last year's championship, this time coached his polo off.

Whether it was using a pool noodle to simulate the height and reach of Perth's 211cm Chinese international superstar Han Xu, attacking her at every oppportunity or consistently sending double and triple-teams at her, Townsville found ways to negate her possibly profound impact.

Perth helped greatly in that too, unable to deliver the ball to her with any fluidity - a season-long lament - but the Fire were all over her, make no mistake.

Alicia Froling will go down as the unsung heroine of the Fire's playoffs, having risen to the unexpected challenge of turning away Southside Flyers in a three-game semi series, to contributing 25 points at 67 per cent, eight rebounds, five assists and two blocks in Game 2.

She was the glue keeping the Fire raging, even after the unguardable Woods and Alex Fowler fouled out of the contest.

But the Fire did their research, made adjustments, clever moves such as the bigger Fowler defending Alex Ciabattoni at times to prevent her playing bully-ball on Townsville's smaller guards.

Seebohm used that successfully in Game 1 and it worked for a time in Game 2 until Ciabattoni simply decided to attack Fowler the same way and once she succeeded, it was time for a different strategy.

But that's what Townsville did - though admittedly playing with "house money" considering if a third game was necessary it would be at home - in terms of making adjustments in wrapping this up in two if possible.

Abbey Ellis did not have a memorable game but stayed in it mentally and helped her team regardless, and Sowah showed that if you stick with it, good things will happen.

Lucy Olsen, while not quite the X-factor Seebohm wanted us to believe she might be, was terrific too, especially in the endgame when it mattered most and the Fire needed people to step up.

In contrast, Alex Wilson appeared distracted for much of the game, jawing at opponents, whining to refs and while many would point to her near triple-double of 13 points, nine assists and nine boards as evidence of a big contribution, truth is she was well below what the Lynx needed.

And that's possibly better reflected in her 3-of-19 shooting and five turnovers, including the critical one at the end of regulation where Olsen stole the ball from her and in her attempt to retrieve it, she fouled instead.

The play denied the Lynx a shot at winning the game, down 105-106 at the time, Olsen's cool-as-a-cucumber free throws creating the final scoreline.

Ciabattoni's desperation heave for a second tie caught two pieces of the iron before rattling out and Townsville grasped the championship.

Perth had its chances and truly blew the game in regulation. When Fowler fouled out with 12.5 seconds, Han Xu went to the free throw line and calmly slotted both freebies for a 92-89 buffer.

Townsville took time-out, needing a three to prolong the grand final. At this point, Petrik subbed out Xu and inserted a small, most likely to match up the Fire's array of outside threats.

Horvat was not one of them so taking Xu out - remember Xu was voted the WNBL's Best Defensive Player so why take her out? - to match the opposition instead of utilising a major strength was an error of judgment.

Sowah missed her three for the tie but Horvat's offensive rebound and kick back out for her second attempt was arguably the play of the game.

Well, so it proved when Sowah let fly and tied the game at 92-92. Would Horvat have ever seized that rebound if Xu was on the court? We'll never know.

Now Xu was subbed back in and Ciabattoni made a miraculous pass from near halfcourt to her at the other side of the court. Xu missed the shot but the ball spilled out of court off the Fire.

There was enough time for Anneli Maley to get off a good shot at the siren but it missed and we were heading to overtime.

Maley finished with 27 points at 68 per cent, 19 rebounds and six assists but it was Townsville now feeling this game was there for the taking.

Sowah's drive for a 106-105 lead meant one more big defensive stand and Olsen produced it, an emotional Seebohm joining Chris Lucas as a dual-Fire championship-winning coach.

Apart from a couple of memorable long bombs, Amy Atwell was well-contained, her defence under regular attack. Steph Gorman off the Perth bench had some huge moments and Ciabattoni, despite playing with a wrist fracture throughout the playoffs, was all class for her 23 points and leadership.

The game was such a cracker it would be easy to overlook the officiating which at times was beyond bad. Maley's offensive foul to start overtime and Ciabattoni's disallowed driving basket were old school rubbish but, as stated earlier, the Lynx still had their chances to win the game.

Instead, their lack of adjustments meant this went the same way as Petrik's previous two championship drives, a hat-trick of Grand Final Game 2 losses at home.

WNBL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES (Best-of-3)

Game 1: Townsville Fire 88 (Woods 22, Sowah 20, Froling 17, Fowler 12, Ellis 11; Fowler, Ellis, Froling 7 rebs; Ellis 6 assts) d Perth Lynx 79 (Atwell 19, Xu 16, Ciabattoni, Wilson, Maley 12; Maley 15 rebs; Maley 6 assts) at Townsville Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 3,891. Fire lead 1-0

Game 2: Townsville Fire 108 (Woods 28, Froling 25, Sowah 18, Woods 15; Fowler 9 rebs; Woods 7 assts) d Perth Lynx 105 (Maley 27, Ciabattoni 23, Xu 18, Wilson 13, Atwell 12, Gorman 11; Maley 19 rebs; Wilson 9 assts) in Overtime {92-92} at Perth High Performance Centre. Crowd: 4,500. Fire win Championship 2-0