Losses to Dandenong and Kilsyth at the weekend put pay to those hopes _ as slim as they had been.

Dandenong Rangers took the honours 91-87 at the Minerdome on Saturday night, while the Cobras cut loose with 38 points in the second quarter to set up a 97-80 win at Kilsyth yesterday.

RetireInvest Ballarat Miners coach Leigh Gooding said while it remained mathematically possible to reach the play-offs, the reality was that they were not playing well enough to force their way into the top four.

Gooding said the team had already turned its attention to setting new goals for the remainder of the season.

"There's plenty of games to go and we have to have something to play for."

Gooding said he had broached the issue immediately after the loss to Kilsyth and would take it further at training tomorrow night.

At the very least, the Miners have pride and respect to play for.

Gooding said the Dandenong game was the one which got away.

"That's the win we let slip.

"We were leading at home with not many minutes to play and didn't execute in the way we needed to."

He said the Miners continued to pay the price for inconsistency within games and quarters as it sat on the bottom of the east conference ladder with four wins and 13 losses. One bad quarter was all it needed to let Kilsyth get away.

Ballarat steadied to out-score the Cobras after half-time, but it was all too late as Joe Werner scored 45 points and had 20 rebounds for Kilsyth.