By Adrian Warren
Lauren Jackson fired plenty of offensive bullets but it was Bulleen's young guns who supplied the decisive ammunition in the biggest WNBL match of the season on Saturday.
Opals superstar Jackson equalled the competition season individual high score of 40, but her Canberra team were beaten 88-78 by minor premier Bulleen in Melbourne.
Jackson won her much anticipated first match-up against Bulleen's emerging 203cm teenager Liz Cambage, but the youngster made a big contribution after getting into foul trouble.
Cambage only played one minute of the second quarter and only played just over 21 minutes in total because of foul trouble but still tallied 18 points and eight rebounds.
Ultimately, it was two other young Bulleen frontcourt players Jenna O'Hea (22 years old, 28 points and eight rebounds) and Hanna Zavecz (24 years old, 15 points and 11 rebounds) who together with Cambage produced the second-half offensive surge their team desperately needed.
Canberra led 30-21 and 45-39 at the first two breaks.
However, Bulleen, who didn't hit a single three-pointer in the first half in which another of their young guns Elyse Penaluna didn't score a point, locked down the Capitals' offence, conceding just 48 points in the last three quarters.
Bulleen, who have finished the regular season with a 21-1 record, trailed for most of the game but took control with a decisive 12-0 run in the final quarter.
"All our training throughout the year has really helped and I think we are a pretty fit team and I felt we would run over them at the end," O'Hea told ABC Television.
Jackson, 28, was untroubled by a couple of early fouls and made 15 of her 30 field goal attempts, including four-of-10 from three-point range.
She also added 11 rebounds, but lacked offensive support from her team-mates.
Jackson accounted for just over half of her team's points with guard Carly Wilson (11) the Capitals' only other double-digit scorer.
"We knew Jackson was going to get her points, we just tried to prevent the other players," Zavecz told WNBL Radio.
"They are all a great offensive team. It was tough going for our bigs to try and do the best they could on Jackson, but us guards had to really try and cut out the other points coming from their guards."
Canberra's first defeat in 10 games and the ninth they have played since Jackson's return means the Capitals (16-6) were now likely to miss out on a top-two spot and the finals double chance.
If as expected Sydney beats Perth on Saturday night, the Flames will finish their regular season with a 17-5 record and play Bulleen in next Saturday's major semi-final at Knox.
The minor semi-final next Sunday will be between Bendigo and Townsville (both 13-8) with the winner of the final round match between the two teams on Saturday night in Townsville hosting the finals match.