A GAME-high 20 points from Central Coast Waves’ Simon Ford helped his side defeat Port Macquarie on Saturday.
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The Dolphins were gallant and raced out to an 18-point lead halfway through the match before the home side pegged them back.
Coach Mark Champion said a lack of numbers didn’t help their cause as they ultimately ran out of legs, going down 73-64.
“It was the same old story that it’s been for most of the season where we just didn’t have enough bodies,” he said.
“When you’re on the road with only seven players it makes it really difficult and they had one player who hit 10 from 10 from the field; he just couldn’t miss.”
While disappointed at the result, the coach said everyone who played did a “tremendous job.”
“Josh Kelly top scored with 17 points for us,” he said.
“He’s got a knack for finding the basket and Luke Jones also did quite well.”
Champion said the side played some of their best basketball all year throughout the first quarter.
“It’s just the issue of consistency and having numbers regularly,” he said.
Realistically the coach has seen significant progress from the side who was beaten 112-58 in the second round.
“There’s one game to go and I can still see massive improvement compared to the start of the year,” he said.
“It all bodes well for next year.”