It was a bittersweet day for the Steel yesterday as it was left licking some wounds after a heavy 66 50 loss to the rampant Queensland Firebirds in Brisbane.
Happily, the sting of defeat was lessened by an earlier result that went the Steel's way.
The Central Pulse missed an opportunity to seal the third and final playoff spot in the New Zealand conference when it was beaten 62-51 by the Adelaide Thunderbirds.
That, followed by the Steel's predictable loss to a team that had not been beaten since round one, left the New Zealand teams tied on eight points.
The Steel progresses to the playoffs and will head to Hamilton to play the Magic in a sudden death game on Saturday night, courtesy of a superior goal percentage, 97.0 to 94.0.
A record of three wins, two draws and eight losses suggests the Steel is not really a playoff calibre team.
Some might go so far as to describe the playoff system, clearly designed to help the weaker New Zealand teams, as slightly farcical.
Still, this is a very young Steel team, and it can hardly be blamed for benefiting from the system. Getting into the playoffs for the first time since 2010 is still an achievement.
It will not exactly go into the Hamilton clash riding a wave of momentum, though it did finish yesterday's game reasonably well.
The Firebirds controlled the first half without being utterly dominant, leading 16 13 after the first quarter and 30-23 at halftime.
Laura Geitz was making life difficult for Steel shooter Jhaniele Fowler Reid, and Romelda Aiken was winning a swag of second chance ball for the Firebirds at the other end.
The Steel really clicked into gear in the first five minutes of the third quarter, reducing the deficit to three goals and finding some lovely flow through the court through Wendy Frew and Shannon Francois.
That was a brief glimpse of something special, but it did not last long enough, and the Firebirds went on a brutal 18-3 run to put the game away.
The Steel won the final quarter 17-15 as a consolation.
Neither side shot particularly well but the Firebirds had 25 more attempts than the Steel.
In the late game, the Mainland Tactix upset the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic 62-58 in Christchurch.
ANZ Championship
The scores
Firebirds 66
Romelda Aiken 49/60, Gretel Tippett 17/29
Steel 50
Jhaniele Fowler Reid 29/36, Te Paea Selby Rickit 17/24, Brooke Leaver 4/4
Quarter scores: 1st, 16-13; 2nd, 30-23; 3rd, 51-33.
