Last season’s runners-up appeared to have Sunday evening’s major semi-final in complete control by halftime, when they held an 11-point lead off the back of an impressive defensive circle and fewer turnovers.
Yet Temepara Bailey’s introduction of teenage shooting sensation Roxanne Rhind into the mix late in the third quarter led an inspired Titans to close the margin to just six points heading into the final period of play.
Shanae Grant did plenty of damage, while Kourtnee Baird was dangerous in the middle, but a 14-11 fourth quarter in favour of the Titans failed to close the gap, ending their aspirations of taking a direct route into the season decider.
Jets coach Paula Stuart paid tribute to the Titans’ "phenomenal defence", in particular their ability to close down the space quickly.
"There are lots of learnings for us, and I still don't think we're playing at our best," Stuart said.
"The first half we did, but to the Titans' credit, they did so well and came back fighting. We usually have a slow start and our third quarter is good, so it was a bit of a flip.
"The good thing for us was that even when we had a bad quarter, we could still lift ourselves up and have that control and trust."
Now preparing to coach in what will be her sixth consecutive grand final, across Ruby and HART Sapphire divisions, Stuart knows what’s to come on August 4 will require further improvement in performance.
"A grand final is a different level again," she said.
"One week off is good but we'll have a proper training game to be ready and prepared. Our girls want it so badly."
The Jets will face the winner of this Sunday's preliminary final between the Sunshine Coast Thunder and Titans, after the Thunder knocked out the Bond University Bull Sharks in the minor semi-final 84-69.
Thunder coach Simone Nalatu was relieved to watch their one-point lead blow out in the final quarter of that clash.
"It was a tight game, which we knew would happen with finals, being up by just one at half-time and three-quarter time," Nalatu said.
"To the girls' credit, they put their foot down in that last quarter. I asked them if they wanted to win, and said you've got to go get it then as there are no more chances. We knew if we wanted to win, it had to be done in the first 10 minutes and couldn’t come down to the super shot as we'd be in trouble."
Despite the defeat, Bull Sharks coach Bec Stower was chuffed with her young group who managed to climb from last on the 2023 ladder up to this season's fourth-placed finish.
"It was an abrupt end but I'm proud of them for getting to that point," she said.
"We wanted to get off that bottom position and we achieved our goal, which is great. To get to that point you've got to have your players working hard and doing all the right things."
PRELIMINARY FINAL: Gold Coast Titans v Sunshine Coast Thunder, Nissan Arena Show Court - Sunday, July 28 at 6pm (Live on KommunityTV)
