Southern and Dunedin both had to settle for runner-up medals in their respective national championships in Auckland yesterday.
Southern lost the national under-23 final to Northern, 55-50, while Dunedin was pipped by North Harbour, 32-31.
Yesterday's loss, Southern's third in as many years in the decider, was not as agonising as the pair of one-point losses to Waikato-Bay of Plenty the past two years, but it meant the same.
After leading 14-12 after an almost flawless first quarter, things quickly changed for Southern after a woeful second quarter, in which it was outscored 18-10.
Northern, which won the round-robin match between the two teams by three goals, led by as many as 11 in the third quarter.
But with six Steel players in its ranks, Southern refused to lie down - drawing the third quarter (12-12) and winning the final quarter (14-13).
However, the damage had been done in the second quarter, leaving Southern to rue its 19 turnovers.
The result enabled Northern to finish the four-day tournament undefeated.
Waikato-BOP finished third, while Mainland was fourth and Central last.
Dunedin fell agonisingly short of winning the under-19 championship, losing by one goal to North Harbour in the final.
It was the second match between the two sides this week, Dunedin beating the North Islanders 36-30 during pool play.
But in an ''extremely physical'' decider, North Harbour turned around a one-point halftime deficit to lead 25-21 with a quarter to play.
It extended its lead to five early in the fourth quarter, before Dunedin wing defence Rachel Segar made two key intercepts to get her side back into the match.
But Dunedin coach Jo Morrison told the Otago Daily Times from Auckland her team ran out of time to win the match, after making ''a couple of silly errors'' down the stretch.
Despite falling at the final hurdle after winning all six matches leading into the final, Morrison said she was ''immensely proud'' of her team.
''They're really young, true Otago girls,'' she said.
''We've got some young talent coming through, which is super exciting for our region. They will learn a lot from the game. These girls are going to be names to watch in the future.''
Dunedin players Abby Erwood, Sophie Erwood, Rachael Horrocks, Jamie Hume and Jennifer O'Connell were selected in the under-19 tournament team.
Te Paea Selby-Rickit, Gina Crampton and Storm Purvis made the under-23 tournament team. Selby-Rickit was also named shooter of the tournament, and Crampton midcourter of tournament.
