The Leeton Eagles men's side almost pulled off the comeback to end all comebacks in the MIA League final against Griffith Demons.
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Having secured their spot in the final after a nail-biting one-point win over West Wyalong, which meant for the first time since the competition returned in 2018 that the Wildcats wouldn't take on the Demons in the decider, it was almost a repeat effort in the grand final.
It was a back-and-forth start to the game before the Griffith side started to break away with a couple of fast break that saw the Griffith side out to a 27-15 lead.
That quickly grew into a 20-point lead, and it was that run before halftime that would end up setting the side up with a 22-point at the halftime break, with the only concern for the Demons being an injury to Mason Salvestro.
Salvestro was able to return not long after halftime, and while it was an evenly matched quarter, with the margin at 69-47, Griffith would have hoped that the job was done.
Leeton had other ideas, however, and started the long road back to claw to within 16 points before Griffith called a time-out with just over five minutes remaining.
The momentum continued to flow in favour of the Eagles, and Griffith started to look rushed under the pressure as they managed just a single point in the final five minutes.
Two missed free throws with Griffith holding a two-point lead were missed in the final seconds, and Leeton tried to score from midcourt for an unlikely win, but the shot came up just short for the Demons to claim the men's title with a 76-74 victory.
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Coach Adam Chilko spoke with pride about his side's effort to turn that deficit around.
"They are really young with a lot of under 18s, and for them to show that sort of resilience, especially after having played a game prior, and that was a close game as well," he said.
"I'm so proud of them. They have all brought in from day one and I have loved having a young group.
"They have been working their arses off for the last 12 weeks, and to end it like that, we always wanted to win, but to end like that, I am really proud of them."
Chilko put the success down to a strong defence in the back end of the fourth quarter.
"Basketball is a game of runs so it is just about chipping away at that lead and trusting yourself," he said.
"To their credit they did and we had blokes making some really good decisions and some good shots. Our defence was the key in the last quarter and they really stood up.
"It was the difference in the last quarter to getting out on the run on transition."
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