And a loss that could have a huge impact on the season.
The Echuca Senior Pirates had the opportunity to lock down a CBL home final on Saturday night against Maryborough.
And they lost by a point.
‘‘It’s not what you want to have happen,’’ coach Leo Tenace said.
‘‘That win would have all but locked up a home final, so we are disappointed by the result.’’
There was a lot that Echuca could have done differently throughout the game, and Tenace said that was his focus after the match.
‘‘I think we defended really well during the match, we probably held their two best players to average games.
‘‘But the thing is you have to look at everything we did throughout the game. We didn’t always make our shots, we made extra passes that didn’t need to be made. It’s something we will look at this week.’’
What looked like an easy home final just got a bit more difficult.
Mildura sit in third spot with a 7-3 record and a game in hand, while Maryborough sit 6-2-1 with three games yet to play.
A win against Mildura this week is an absolute must for the team to get a home final.
And the team is well aware of how hard it will be to beat the Heat in the Toyota Hothouse.
‘‘It is the hardest road trip in our competition,’’ Tenace said.
‘‘They’re a hard enough team to beat on your own floor, but their full side never does the travel. So when you do show up in Mildura you see just how tough of an opposition you have to come up against.
‘‘It’s going to be a huge challenge, and we know that we need to win and still have results go our way throughout the remainder of the tournament if we are going to lock down a home final.
‘‘It’s not going to be easy for us, but we are really looking forward to the challenge it presents us.’’
And despite two losses this season, the Pirates hold no fear of Maryborough either.
‘‘We pulled back more than 30 points from last time on Saturday,’’ he said.
‘‘We believe we were the better side on the day, we just had a few bad patches, and we will take that confidence with us as we head towards finals, no matter where we end up playing.’’