For the first time in three years, the MIA League men's title is heading to Griffith after the Demons came away with a two-point win over Leeton.
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It was the first time since the competition's return in 2018 that the final wasn't a showdown between Griffith and West Wyalong after the Wildcats suffered a one-point defeat at the hands of the Eagles earlier in the day in what was an action-packed day at the Leeton Indoor Stadium.
It was a back-and-forth start to the game before the Griffith side started to break away with a couple of fast break saw the Griffith side out to a 27-15 lead.
That quickly grew into a 20-point lead, and it was that run before halftime that would end up setting the side up with a 22-point at the halftime break, with the only concern for the Demons being an injury to Mason Salvestro.
Coach Ryan Minato feels it was that run which secured the game.
"That was huge," he said.
"That was a whole team effort, and without that run there, we wouldn't have been able to get the win in the end. That ended up winning us the game, really."
Salvestro was able to return not long after halftime, and while it was an evenly matched quarter, with the margin at 69-47, Griffith would have hoped that the job was done.
Leeton had other ideas, however, and started the long road back to claw to within 16 points before Griffith called a time-out with just over five minutes remaining.
The momentum continued to flow in favour of the Eagles, and Griffith started to look rushed under the pressure as they managed just a single point in the final five minutes.
Two missed free throws with Griffith holding a two-point lead were missed in the final seconds, and Leeton tried to score from midcourt for an unlikely win, but the shot came up just short for the Demons to claim the men's title with a 76-74 victory.
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It was a nervous final quarter for the Griffith coach, who knew that the game shouldn't have gotten as close as it did.
"Credit to them, they played eight quarters today, and we probably thought that they'd be hotter in the first half and back off, but they came back at us strong," he said.
"To hold off, we did alright, and it's great to get the win, but it probably shouldn't have gotten that close.
"We were up by 20 something with five minutes left, and I think we only scored a point in the last five minutes."
While Minato didn't feel like it was complacency setting in with the side up by 22 heading into the final term, there were certainly some nerves out on court.
"We knew they would come eventually, but we went away from what was working for us," he said.
"We were trying to use the clock to our advantage, but we weren't trying to score as well. I don't think we got complacent because it is always nerve-racking when you are on the court under that kind of pressure."
After a strong game in both attack and defence, Steve McCanna returned to action with the Best on Court in the final.
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