In what many spectators are touting as "the game of the season", the Warwick Wildcats came agonizingly close to securing a place in the Development League finals, but fell short, losing 79-76 against a strong Maroochydore Clippers team on Saturday afternoon . The crowd of over 200 people, including the State Minister for health Lawrence Springborg, were treated to some high quality basketball. The Wildcats started well to lead the visitors by 12 points at half time, but let the Clippers back into the game in the third quarter with a number of unforced turnovers. The last quarter was basket for basket until the end, where Warwick even had the last 2 attempts to score 3 pointers to tie up the game, but both shots missed. The Wildcats missed the inside presence of Declan Starasts who is their leading scorer, and tends to be their “go to man” at the end of tight games. The Wildcats fought hard, but in the end, couldn’t quite get the win. In hindsight, Coach Clark suggested that he could have possibly used his bench a bit more during the third quarter to allow his starters to be a bit "fresher" in the last quarter.

The Matthews brothers top scored for the Wildcats; Anthony finishing with 19 points, and Michael scoring 16. Michael McDaniel, Snowy Quinn, DJ Cremasco, Josh Cremasco and Cameron Scutts all chipped in with points. The bulk of Maroochydores scoring came from the 2 players with QBL experience in Hayden Reed (28), and Mitch Pleysier (23).

The Wildcats still have a chance to make the finals, but must now rely on Maroochydore losing their last 2 games, which after last nights performance, looks unlikely.

“The only thing we can do now is win our remaining games and see what happens” said Coach Clark “We have our last home game of the season next Sunday afternoon at 4:30pm at WIRAC against the undefeated Seahawks team. With Declan Starasts back, we have the opportunity to show what we could achieve in the finals. Even if we don’t make the finals, it would be great to be the only team to defeat the defending premiers. This promises to be another high quality game, and will be the last opportunity for Warwick to see the team play Development League this season, and we are hoping to see another great crowd come along and show their support for the Wildcats”