MacKillop College went within a "matter of inches" of becoming the NSW Combined Catholic College open boys basketball champions on May 30.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In the end they went down 41-38 to St Dominic's College from Penrith after two periods of overtime were required to separate the two teams.
Scores were locked at 31-all after normal time and then 36-all after the first period of overtime after what appeared to be a foul against MacKillop wasn't called with 3.3 seconds remaining of normal time.
It would have taken the hosts to the free-throw line where one of two successful baskets would have put them in front and left the visitors with 3.3 seconds to go the length of the court.
Coach Ryan Adams, however, refused to be drawn into making comments relating to a number of contentious decisions that went against his team in the closing stages.
"It was one of those games that was literally a game of inches," he said.
"It was up and down all game and we were just unlucky. Sometimes in basketball you end up on the losing team and it just happened that way.
"I'm not going to say it was controversial."
Adams felt the match officials did a "really good job" throughout the entire tournament.
"They were fantastic and there for the duration so it was just a game of inches and unfortunately we went down," he said.
The three-point defeat was the Port Macquarie school's first throughout a nine-game campaign which Adams said was "absolutely gutting".
"Really happy and proud of how well we did play especially throughout the final; they're (St Dominic's) a tough team to play," Adams said.
"We played them two weeks ago in Sydney at a NSW school tournament in a final and went down by 13.
"We used that as motivation for this tournament to beat them and to go this close... I'm really proud of the boys and the performance they put in.
"I can't fault them at all."
IN OTHER NEWS:
