Tasmanian men's coach Mark Radford said it was gut-wrenching for his team to miss out on the chance of a medal at the under-20 national champs with a buzzer-beater loss.
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Having won its opening game 87-56 against ACT but then lost 89-65 to Queensland in Mackay, Tuesday's agonising 67-66 defeat to South Australia Blue condemned Tasmania to a classification game against Western Australia Black.
"The group is disappointed not to keep advancing in the tournament but were outplayed by a better team," Radford said.
"We were one point up with four seconds to go but they found a way to get ahead with zero seconds to go. That's tough."
Having returned from the last under-20 national tournament with a bronze medal, playing off for the chance to finish ninth was not what the team had been hoping for.
They found a way to get ahead with zero seconds to go. That's tough.
- Tasmanian men's coach Mark Radford
However, Radford said they would see out their fixtures in style and the team delivered with a come-from-behind 76-66 win over WA Black to advance to Thursday's ninth-tenth play-off.
Five players hit double figures, led by Reyne Smith's 19 and Sejr Deans with 17, while Harry Flint recorded a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
The Tasmanian women's team bowed out in the quarter-finals, going down 92-46 to NSW Blue.
NSW won all four quarters and ended up doubling Tasmania's score.
Tassie captain Micah Simpson led the way for Nic Martin's team with 15 points while Sharn Hayward and Aishah Anis both added 11.
Tasmania had lost its three previous games this week, going down 68-42 to NSW White on Monday and then 66-55 to Victoria Navy and 98-44 to Queensland on Tuesday.
In contrast, NSW Blue remain undefeated, storming into the semi-finals having also beaten South Australia 76-66, Western Australia 66-39 before their toughest test against Victoria finished 72-65.
Tasmania's Ivor Burge men's team suffered its first loss at the tournament, going down 126-66 to South Australia Red.
Josh Cleary was the team's main contributor with 25 points and 15 rebounds.
On Tuesday night, the team had cantered to a 129-48 victory against Western Australia.
A triple-double from Dylan Pace (30 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists) led the way although Cleary top scored with 43 (and 21 rebounds) and Jeremiah Lowe added 30 points and 20 rebounds.
Tasmania was due to play Victoria in Wednesday's late game.
Rob Shaw
Heralding the impact of Tasmanian sport without saying "punching above its weight" is not as easy as it sounds.
Heralding the impact of Tasmanian sport without saying "punching above its weight" is not as easy as it sounds.
