MOUNTAINEERS FALL IN FINAL

THE Toowoomba Mountaineers’ QBL finals dream is over but coach Pop Dickerson believes his players can hold their heads high.

Toowoomba struggled to keep pace with the Brisbane Capitals in Saturday’s qualifying finals, with the men’s team beaten 102-79 while the women lost 88-51.

It was a disappointing end to what had been a promising season but Dickerson said the final score belied the Mountaineers’ efforts.

The men’s team trailed by just six points early in the final quarter and the score only blew out in the last few minutes of the contest.

“I’m proud of how the team performed. We showed we were a play-off team,” Dickerson said.

“We had a good opportunity to win ... but you’ve got to play for the full 40 minutes and we were patchy in the fourth quarter.

“We battled like warriors. It’s a shame we couldn’t go one further but I’m proud of the team. We certainly had a good season.”

Dickerson said the game was a learning experience and he was confident the Mountaineers can make the play-offs again in 2014.

“When you haven’t been there for a while, you don’t know how to win in those big game situations,” he said.

“Everyone will benefit from having that experience.

“After making the play-offs this year, you have to go in thinking play-offs or better next year.”