ROCK solid defence proved to be the Wodonga Wolves' undoing as they fell to the Seymour Blasters in the CBL grand final last night.
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There was no repeat of the buzzer-beating heroics from last year's final, with the Blasters able reel in and ultimately shut out the fast starting Wolves 63-57.
The home side was on fire early, starting with a nine-point run in the opening minutes.
Taking a 21-16 lead into the first break, the contest tightened up as the Blasters found a steady rhythm in offence and established a solid, physical defence.
Josh McKay did a power of inside work at both ends for the home side, finishing with 15 points.
Kyle McMullan worked hard all night to finish with 14 points, while Jon Sharp chipped in with 11.
The Wolves were outscored in the remaining three quarters, but it wasn't until the dying minutes of the match that they were truly out of the contest.
Coach Troy Crawford said the Wolves did well to come as close as they did.
“I'm extremely proud of the boys, the way they fought it out,” he said.
“They competed hard for the entire game, and it wasn't until Seymour landed a clutch three late in the piece that they broke the game open.
“Given that we were missing a couple of guys through injury it was a super effort from the boys, they should hold their heads high.”
Last year's grand final hero Trent McMullan was sidelined with a knee injury, making the match-up on grand final MVP Matt Bolland much more difficult.
“Credit to the group, they all played their roles and did their part and that is what kept us in the game for so long.
Bolland dropped 13-points for the winners.