With both teams battling for fourth spot on the Suncorp Super Netball ladder, the Firebirds came out firing to hold a three-point lead at quarter time but were ground down by a physical Mavericks unit to come up just one point short.
The loss means the Firebirds sit sixth on the SSN ladder at the halfway mark in the season with two wins but coach Kiri Wills believes with three of those being single-goal margins, spirits are high for a big second half of the campaign.
"We know how close we are to all of these teams," Wills said.
"We are - man - we're coming. Second half of the competition is a great opportunity for us to get ourselves back in there."
Sunday's match got off to a great start with Maddy Gordon and Imogen Allison both starting in the midcourt on their respective returns from injury.
With Mary Cholhok continuing the dominant form she showed the week before against the NSW Swifts, the home team had the crowd of 4038 on their feet to hold a 19-16 lead at the first break.
A scary moment for Lara Dunkley in the second term changed the game however with the Firebirds vice-captain rolling her left ankle and having to come off the court.
That forced Wills into a reshuffle with Gordon on managed minutes and training partner Jessie Laga'aia thrust into a battle with Australian Diamonds internationals Jamie-Lee Price and Amy Parmenter in just her second SSN appearance.
The Mavericks clawed their way into a one-point lead by halftime and that would end up being the final margin despite both teams trading the lead across the third and fourth quarters in a game which truly could have gone either way.
Cholhok ended the match with 43 points including a Suncorp Super Shot right before the final siren while Selby-Rickit was impressive in goal attack with 12 goals at 92.3 per cent and 15 goal assists.
Dunkley, who returned to the action after receiving treatment on her ankle, finished with 26 feeds including 12 goal assists, while at the back Kelly Jackson was again a standout with four gains, three intercepts and four deflections.
The Firebirds will look to bounce back next weekend on the road against the Adelaide Thunderbirds, with Jackson eager to set the record straight after a Round 3 humbling by the Thunderbirds at Nissan Arena.
"We didn't have a great game against them last time, so we really need to rectify that," the Silver Fern defender said.
