Undefeated heading into final’s weekend, the Rams were always going to be a tough assignment, even before some of Mudgee’s big men in the forward positions were a no-show on Sunday morning. In their second match of the day in the play-off for third, Mudgee once again went down to Narromine, Jordan Woolmer lamenting his sides lack of height and inexperience in big matches.

The Lakers captain was disappointed with the performances on the day, but conceded his side came up against two very strong teams.

“They (Dubbo) know what they’re doing when it comes to basketball – all we can do is just play hard and see what happens,’ he said.

“Offensively we were ok, but it was a bit hard because we were missing a few big guys so they had a big height advantage – all you can do is try hard in defence.

“They had 30-odd second chance points with some easy put-backs and that’s what killed us.”

Dubbo drew first blood in the opening match of the day, moving the ball well through the hands to score an easy lay-up to set the tone early.

Two big threes by the Rams then put the Lakers immediately on the back foot, and it was 10-0 before Mudgee finally got their first bucket through captain Jordan Woolmer, who drove to the paint and finished well.

Woolmer then drained a long three to keep his side in the game but the Rams were running riot at the offensive end. It was clear where the Lakers were going to struggle from a very early stage, Dubbo’s height allowing them grab plenty of rebounds from both ends, allowing several second-chance opportunities.

At quarter time the Lakers were struggling, down 25-10, looking ok at the offensive end but unable to stop the Rams with the ball in hand