PORT Macquarie's under 14 girls basketball team completed a remarkable turnaround to take victory in the Northern Junior League on Saturday.
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The little Dolphins beat hosts the Grafton Vikings 45-43 in overtime in a dramatic final win at the Grafton Sports Centre.
The girls' composure at the free-throw line was essential to the win. Four of the five extra-time points came from fouls.
It was a fantastic comeback. Port Macquarie was eight points behind at the final break.
The Dolphins got the margin back to two, before it went out to five again.
Port hit the lead but a Grafton player sank a vital two points with virtually the last shot of the match to level the scores.
The Port girls were behind for most of the final. A slow start in the first two quarters led to a stern talking to from coach Nathan Lyon at the main break.
Lyon's clipboard ended up on the floor by the end of the passionate plea.
"I got stuck into them," he said.
"It was a decent half-time talk.
"They were being a bit lazy. It was a matter of how badly they wanted it.
The talk worked.
"They owned the second half," Lyon said.
Lyon's belief didn't waver. The girls showed how capable they were against the same opposition in the major semi final the previous day.
"It was a similar game really," Lyon said.
The Port girls were down by eight points late in the third quarter, but got up by three in ordinary time.
The achievement is all the more remarkable considering the girls' lowly status in the competition last year.
Lyon had eight of the 10 girls involved again in 2014.
"We were getting beaten by 50 and 60 points some weeks," he said.
"It was a pretty special weekend for these girls."
Worry among parents and coaching staff - which consisted of Lyon and team manager Jodie Griffin - was high.
"Three minutes of extra time felt like an hour," Lyon said.
He paid tribute to Griffin for her "fantastic work" and the other Port teams who came to support the 14s girls.
The under 14 and 16s boys and girls found their voice for the final.
The Dolphins will now contest the State Cup in the Sydney on August 9-10.