PORTLAND went within a whisker of claiming its first Country Basketball League men’s premiership, going down to Horsham Hornets 87-80 in Saturday night’s South West Conference grand final.
With three minutes to play the match was all square, but the more experienced Hornets – with the backing of their home crowd – were able to control those last moments.
It was the second year in a row the Coasters have finished runners-up, having been defeated by Ararat in last year’s play-off.
However, Portland coach Rebel Noter believes a title is not far away.
“It was one that got away,” Noter said.
“I thought the team was good enough to win it.
“But all done and dusted, it was a really good game from both teams and it was probably Horsham’s age and maturity – guys like Matthew Lovel and Tim Wade – that was the difference.
“With Trenton Johnston missing the game, our oldest player is only 23 and we were up against guys who are 38 and have a lot of experience at this level.
“We’ve made two grand finals in a row, it hurts not to win them, but you can see it is coming.
“If this groups sticks together there are big things ahead, it is exciting times for Portland basketball.
“Guys like Sam Peters and Jack Walsh, they are just growing in confidence and relishing the opportunities.
“And that includes the kids that helped us out when we were short on numbers, it shows there is depth there and we have players who can be at this level.
“If they stick together they will get the experience, and we will be more like Horsham that has that good blend of really experienced good players and young guys coming through.
“I thought it showed out in those last minutes that we lacked that experience and having someone like Trenton out on the court would have helped.”
Good start
The Coasters started well with a 27-22 opening period but Horsham struck back in the second quarter to lead 47-41 at the big break.
Portland brought that margin back to four points by three-quarter time and kept persisting to level the game up at 76-76 with three minutes to play, but their chances of icing the game were not helped with Jackson Dunlop – who has a history of getting the job done late in close games – fouled out.
“We had our opportunities, but we didn’t shoot well from the perimeter.
“There were times there when the outside shot wasn’t warranted and we could have gone in more, so that is a learning thing for us. That will come with experience.”
Overall though Noter said his team played to a high level with Horsham capitalising on any mistakes.
“We made some errors in our defence, they got some easy baskets. We were ball watching a bit, and we threw some passes that weren’t on and they picked them off.
“We didn’t have enough scoring from all players, Toby (Oakley) and Ash (Hill) were quiet on the scoring – they still contributed in other ways, but a bit more of a scoring spread would have helped.
“When you look at Horsham they had Lovel and (Matty) Lloyd playing big minutes; they had to be out there to win it, and they were.”
After being held to just two points in last weekend’s semi-final, Portland’s Nathan Hardingham – later named the season’s most valuable player – was back to his best with 28 points.
“Nathan was rock solid inside for us, he played an outstanding game.
“And Davey (Denboer) did a great job for us on Mitch Martin (restricting him to 15 points).
“Toby Jennings was really good again, he makes things happen, and was just a bit unlucky with some of his shots.
“Everyone should have been happy with the way they carried themselves through the season.
“It was just this one game at the end that got away from us.
“But there are better things to come.”
Horsham Hornets 22 47 65 87
Portland Coasters 27 41 61 80
Horsham: Mathew Lovel 18; Matty Lloyd 16; Sam Breuer 15; Mitch Martin 15; Cody Bryan 13; Tim Wade 6; Jake Hobbs 2; Harley Pope 2.
Portland: Nathan Hardingham 28; Davey Denboer 18; Toby Jennings 15; Jackson Dunlop 11; Sam Peters 7; Ash Hill 1.
Award winners:
Nathan Hardingham CBL season MVP
Davey Denboer CBL season defensive player of the year
