'You couldn't script it any better': Mermaids snatch buzzer-beating win

In what was a seesawing final few plays in their away game against Portland, and with Keele Hillas fouling out for the Mermaids, teen Paiyton Noonan, who had split her lip earlier in the contest, returned to the floor to hit a massive three pointer to hit the lead with less than five seconds on the clock.

"We thought 'there we go, we've pretty well sealed it there'," Mermaids coach Matt Clarke recalled.

But with the Coasters taking a time out, the home side were able to advance the ball and score with one second on the clock to snatch back the lead.

Then, in stepped Mills.

"I handed the board to Mia, who has experience beyond her years and left it for her to draw up the play," Clarke said.

"She in-bounded the ball from the sidelines and was lucky enough to, on a long pass, find Meg Carlin right under the basket who caught and immediately put it in on the buzzer for us to win.

"You couldn't script it any better than that really."

Clarke believed the gritty 48-47 win showcased a resilience within his young playing group.

"While the group we've got have a lot of experience amongst several of the girls, they're still only really young," he said. "That's composure and basketball intelligence you can't teach or coach.

"Sometimes you get to win pretty and other times you have to win ugly and fight it out, and to their credit, everyone contributed and fought it out for the full 40 minutes."

Taking only nine players to Portland, the Mermaids worked their match-ups against a side featuring the likes of Tyleah Barr, Alana Strom and Millie Jennings.

"We put a lot of effort into Tyleah, we know how good a player she is from her time with the Big V side in Warrnambool," Clarke said. "Millie is so athletic and reads the play well... and Alana, she's an outstanding player."

The Mermaids lead CBL's south-west competition heading into the Christmas break, though little separates five of the six teams.

"Every game is crucial," Clarke said. "We've got Mount Gambier in Mt Gambier, Colac at home and Horsham away, so none of those games are going to be easy games."

Meanwhile, Portland's women's team returned to the winners list on Sunday, defeating Horsham by 13 points, while in the men's competition, Portland outplayed Warrnambool Seahawks 77-60 on Saturday night, before Ash Keen (25 points) and Dom Occhipinti (20) led the Seahawks to a 30-point home win against Terang Tornadoes on Sunday.

The competition resumes on January 6.