Warrnambool Seahawks assistant coach Barry Brooks is calling for the players to manage their intensity levels after they were defeated in their first home game of the Big V season.
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The Seahawks went down to Sunbury Jets by 12 points at The Arc on Saturday night.
The Seahawks showed grit late in the first half to go into half-time just one point down.
But the Jets got away early in the fourth and Tim Gainey's men couldn't claw back the margin, with the final score 71-59.
Assistant coach Barry Brooks said there were some positives to take out the game.
"We certainly started the game well but we drifted in our intensity," he said.
"We've been working hard on the younger guys on the bench and bringing some intensity off the bench into the game.
"They certainly brought that in, the problem we had was that they tended to bring a lot of high intensity but they ran out of energy in the end.
"The intensity was there but perhaps their fitness let them down a bit as they went."
Brooks said it was good to have youngster AJ Cunningham back on court for the Seahawks.
"He's got a fair bit of work to do but he's only back in the team recently so he's learning where we are at," he said.
The experienced mentor said the team was working on its communication.
"We're really concentrating on how we communicate on the court and that let us down a few times tonight, particularly in our defence," he said.
The Seahawks rallied late in the first-half to stay in the game.
They down were by eight points with seven minutes to play in the second quarter.
Then guard Cunningham shot a three-pointer to keep the Seahawks in touch, down 26-20.
Aaron Harrison shot an excellent three-pointer with about a minute to go in the half to make the score 36-31 in the Jets' favour.
In the dying seconds of the half, guard Josh Dean executed a brilliant steal which led to a bucket leaving the Seahawks just one point down at the half.
The Jets raced away at the start of the third to again take an eight-point lead but the Seahawks fought back, beginning with a Cunningham three-pointer with three minutes to play.
A steal by Gainey with a minute left in the third led to a basket which trimmed the deficit to seven.
The Jets got away early again in the fourth, making it difficult for the Seahawks.
With six minutes to play, Harrison made a nice pass to Cunningham who watched his three-pointer shot swish through the net.
Alex Gynes also hit a triple with just over two minutes to go.
It was quickly followed by a Gainey steal with Harrison finishing the bucket at the other end.
When Ollie Bidmade made a three-pointer with one minute and 50 seconds on the clock it seemed the Seahawks were surging home.
But Sunbury held onto its 10-point lead and made another bucket before the final buzzer.
The Seahawks went down to the Keysborough Cougars by just one point (68-67) in their season opener last weekend.
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