Mountaineers can all hold their heads high
Women remain in second, as brave men go down fighting
One week ago, the Brisbane Capitals thumped the Toowoomba Mountaineers 91-71.
On Saturday the Mountaineers, despite missing a number of key stars, almost produced a stunning turnaround.
At home the Mountaineers men lost 73-71 to the Capitals.
“We deserved to win that game,” coach Sean Connelly said.
Connelly said that despite the loss, he was very impressed with how his side performed, even though it seemed as if nothing was going their way.
“After playing them (Brisbane) the first time, we were all disappointed with our performance, losing by the margin (20 points) we did.
“For the team to come out and lose by three is showing us that we have the ability to compete with the top contender in the competition. And considering we lost (Cameron) Weber early to a groin injury and Jacob (Davis) is still out, that’s another 20 plus points we would’ve had.
“They played some of the best basketball I’ve seen this season, even though it wasn’t the best game they’ve played.”
Also on Saturday, the women went down to Brisbane earlier on in the day, 78-71, putting the record for the season at 4 wins and 1 loss, sitting second on the ladder.
With his squad missing a number of key players, Connelly was buoyed by the side’s “next man up” mentality against the Capitals.
Adam Gehrig and Sam Wall stepped up at the weekend – determined to lift their team.
“Adam (Gehrig) was awesome and put the team on his back,” Connelly said. “He was the focal point of our offence and he was making good shot selections in open space, which he had created.
“And Sam Wall really stood out in his performance. I put him in the starting line-up for the first time and it was the best I’ve seen him play.
“He helped control the team and put on good points, in addition to fascinating the play.”