A STRONG showing from 17-year-old talent Taryn Bond was one of the biggest positives for the Cairns Dolphins as they handed the Townsville Flames a seven-point loss in Round 13 of the 2025 NBL1 North Women’s season.

The 13th round of the fixture marked the final round of the home and away season, and with both sides having qualified for the 2025 finals series, and remarkably, it was looming as a preview of the first week of the postseason. The two sides ended up matched up against each other this weekend, so last Saturday’s clash at Trinity Ford Stadium will be repeated in week one of the postseason.

Although the Flames did a good job to take the home crowd out of it in the opening frame and take a slim lead into quarter time, a 26-17 second period in favour of Cairns saw the Dolphins snatch control of the match heading into the main break. Despite a solid challenge from the visitors in the second half, the Dolphins hold on for a gritty win that will certainly fill them with confidence heading into this weekend’s rematch.

One of the most promising factors for Cairns in the win was the performance of Bond, who was electric offensively and provided a real spark off the bench, suggesting she will be a key player in the upcoming finals series.

Cairns Dolphins (82) def. Townsville Fire (75)

Taryn Bond – 21 points, four rebounds, one steal

It was a professional scoring performance from Bond, who looked like a veteran with her scoring nous against the Fire, stepping up to lead lead all-comers in the points column despite being so early in her career.

Bond started the game with plenty of energy and showed her fearless nature with a blitzing drive to the basket, finishing through contact and converting the and-one in style. Bond then nailed her first triple of the match before heading to the bench, already with six points to her name by the first break in an electric start.

The youngster was not injected back into the contest until late in the second term, but made sure to make her court time count, nailing a putback after chasing down the offensive board in the first 30 seconds she was on the floor. She backed it up with a nice reverse layup on the following possession, before finishing the term with a scoring frenzy. Bond nailed another layup and a triple in the span of 30 seconds to single-handedly drag her side to a five-point lead at the main change.

Although her court time was limited once again in the third frame despite a strong showing to close out the first half, she was still able to make an impact that ultimately contributed to the winning result. After nailing a nifty little floater on the drive, she then poked the ball free from the opposition’s grasp on the next play, which allowed Teyla Evans to pull up and nail the three-pointer in transition.

Bond continued to hit the scoreboard in the fourth quarter, showing relentless attack on the basket and finishing at the cup to open her account in the final frame, and push her side’s lead back out to five points. After getting into some foul trouble, she had a short stint on the bench before returning for one more burst, where she nailed another layup to help seal the result and cap off an immense performance.

The young gun finished the contest with a game-high 21 points in just 20 minutes of game time, nailing nine of her 12 attempts from the field and all seven of her shots from inside the arc, showcasing just how deadly she was on the drive. If the Dolphins can get this level of output from Bond in the postseason, it bodes extremely well for their title hopes in the coming weeks.