The reaction force was too tough for the Griffins to handle, all but knocking us out of the finals race.

The Greater Division 4 Griffins were sitting a mere three points outside of the top four before going on a three match run against our old rivals and two of the teams we were looking to knock out of the finals spots.

It began in style against the Super Tafe from down the road, the Griffins bolstered by the inclusions of Pete Waller – absent for over a month with various ailments – and The Dan Harris. After conceding four triples on the way to losing the first quarter, the Griffins won the next three by comfortable margins; closing the game on the humiliating note of a nothin’-but-net trey from The Dan to cap a 26 – 11 final quarter blow out. Pete hit 18 on his return, The Dan reaching 14 with that final quarter madness. 14 was much less than the number of times the event was mentioned after the game, no doubt.

Griffins 72 – 48 University of SA (Pete 18, Dan 14, Tom 10, Patty 9, John 8, Brad 7, Max 4, Stu 2)

Next up was Torrens Valley, the Griffins a spectre of their best lineup with various players unavailable – Pete having been promoted to division 3. Kris Dyer suited up to give the Griffins a sixth man. The first quarter was full of encouraging signs, with some late threes giving the Cougars a one point lead at the interval. Unfortunately, the Griffins came out all purple in the second half, allowing one Cougar to score 14 points – all from within the arc or at the line. We would never recover, with the 13 point 2nd quarter differential proving to be the deciding margin, despite Brad having one of his better games in division 4 and Stu continuing his fine point scoring form since being promoted from division 5.

Griffins 64 – 77 Torrens Valley (Brad 16, Stu 14, John 13, Patty 11, Tom 6, Kris 4)

Needing a win to keep alive our now 99% fat free, no added sugars finals hopes, the Griffins next game was against the team contemporaneously (legitimately use a bigger word, fellow editors :D ) occupying our desired fourth spot on the ladder: North Adelaide Red. An unexpected boost was received before tip off, with the game switched from the Launchpad to the Dome due to what I can only hope had something to do with a meteor destroying Hillcrest. Seriously though, apparently there’s a hole in the floor? I’m not surprised – there’s holes in every other dimension of the building, not to mention a dent in the gate by court 2 from when one Kelly Penn shoved some **PROFANITY WARNING** from the Bearcats into it last year. Good times.

Yes, good times… unlike most of the game I’m supposed to be reviewing, here. A 20 – 5 first quarter no show from the Griffins was the chief architect of our ultimate demise – the Griffins front court struggling all night to get into any kind of rhythm, out hustled and out toughed by shorter but meaner North forwards. The return of Chris McMichael to the tune of 22 points not enough to halt the probable slide out of the finals race with a 14 point loss – nobody else hitting double figures.

Griffins 52 – 66 North Adelaide Red (Chris 22, Max 7, Tom 7, Patty 6, Stu 4, John 4, Brad 2, Nath zero)

The resulting drop from fifth to seventh has put the not-so-greater Griffins all but mathematically out of contention of a finals spot this season, with three games to play. The maybe-not-quite-lesser-anymore Griffins, however, are only a point out of fourth after their double header double whammy.

Go Griffins!