The Mermaids claimed their maiden Country Basketball League south-west conference title after defeating Mount Gambier Lakers by 14 points in Horsham on Saturday night.

While coach Katie O'Keefe and her players hope the win inspires other women to take their basketball to higher levels, their celebrations were short-lived.

O'Keefe revealed team members had travelled to the grand final from a variety of locations in a number of vehicles, meaning there was no group celebration before they left Horsham.

But she is planning to make Wednesday night's traditional training time slot a get-together to mark the achievement.

"It was good fun," she said of her side's 60-46 win.

"It was a bit of a high followed by a low. I was camping in Halls Gap and some of the girls came straight home and some were going back to Portland for the junior tournament. After the initial celebration, it was over quite quickly."

O'Keefe said the Mermaids' success highlighted a pathway to regional competition for younger female players after the Mermaids withdrew from the statewide Big V competition last year. When she took the coaching role with the CBL side, she hoped the Mermaids would be able to field a side in the Big V winter competition this year but that has been put on hold.

"It's been fantastic (to be in the CBL)," she said.

"The young girls are ready to go again. A couple are playing in the under 18s and even if it is summer for a couple of years, it's still a good competition."

O'Keefe said she hoped the CBL women's competition would grow, so associations had both men's and women's teams.

The Mermaids achieved their win with tight defence and a range of scoring options.

"It was a brilliant night," O'Keefe said. "It was a good feel throughout the whole game."

The Mermaids edged ahead 10-6 at the end of a low-scoring first quarter before breaking the game open in the second. O'Keefe said the Mermaids, led by guard Kat Aitken, further increased their defensive pressure as they stretched the advantage to 10 points at the main break.

They maintained the gap but the Lakers got it back to nine at the final change.

Conscious of the Lakers' ability to finish well after they defeated the Mermaids on the buzzer the first time they met in November, O'Keefe said her side was ready for a comeback.

"Every time we started a quarter we said it was even, it was a level playing field," she said.

"Jess (O'Connor) knocked a few shots down. I hit a couple of shots and Emily (Evans), she got two or three in a row. We had a few people hit a couple of shots and we got it out to 15."

O'Keefe said the spread of scorers was important, but Aitken's defensive game made her a standout from an even contribution.

"She probably had her best game of the season. She was probably the difference between the two sides," she said.

O'Keefe said the inclusion of her father Peter, a former Seahawks player and Mermaids coach, as the bench coach, had been important during the finals. She had been able to focus on playing and his experience had been invaluable in making moves.

Leading scorers for the victors were O'Keefe (29), O'Connor (9), Aitken (9) and Evans (8).

Ebony Stacey (3) and Maggie Baker (2) also contributed.

grbest@fairfaxmedia.com.au