Kuany helps Heat hammer Marlins in opener

Townsville recruit Kuany Kuany wasted no time endearing himself to his new home fans after his standout debut guided the Heat past Cairns Marlins 111-84 in their season opener.

The South Sudanese-Australian talent was everywhere in Saturday’s comprehensive win over the Heat’s fierce North Queensland rivals, scoring a game-high 33 points (on 6/8 three-point shooting) to go along with six rebounds, two steals and a block.

His eye-catching numbers helped the Heat overwhelm an experienced Marlins outfit, with captain Ethan Betts (19 points, six assists, four rebounds) and import shooting guard Grant Teichmann (15 points, three rebounds, three assists) also enjoying great nights.

Townsville guards Max Norton and Chris Kann impressed in their minutes with stellar three-point shooting and defence while evergreen centre Matty Rees and young gun Marshall Wilson battled hard all game.

Kuany was part of the Illawarra Hawks team that won the NBL championship this season and while thrilled to start the season so strongly the power forward still sees plenty of room for improvement.

“We trust coach’s system, and we're trying to pride ourselves on playing together, and playing hard for the full 40 minutes,” he said.

“We did a great job of that on Saturday night, but there were still a lot of mistakes that we can fix.

“My teammates were able to find me in my spots, I was able to get some good looks and it all come together.”

The 25-year-old is looking to lock down an NBL contract for next season and a big season with the Heat will go a long way to helping him find a new home at the pro level.

“I didn't play too much last season at Illawarra, we had such a great team, a championship team, but I learned so much and I'm trying to bring that winning culture here,” he said.

“To be here and get the opportunity to play is a blessing and I really want to show where I'm at as a player.

“You can work out all day on the court, but during a game is when you get to see if the stuff you're doing is working, and then you can learn from it and go to the next level.”

The Townsville Flames didn’t fare as well in their season opener, going down to the Dolphins 97-63.

Import star Sam Bowman stuffed the stat sheet in her Flames debut and had a game-high 29 points to go with 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals but Townsville were unable to match the balanced scoring effort of the Dolphins.

Mia Murray added 10 points and eight rebounds and Canadian centre Kali Grootenboer had 15 points and five rebounds in the loss.

The Flames were down by eight after the first term and were unable to peg back the Dolphins, with the team keen to bounce back in Round 2.

The Heat and Flames have a road double this weekend, first taking on Rockhampton on Friday night before backing up on Saturday against the Meteors and Meteorettes in Mackay.