Experience, she felt, did help but the injection of young blood, such as Yahaira Williams, had lifted the victors after they trailed 12-9 in the first quarter.
Midcourter Rebecca Kupa remains the lynchpin, ensuring the ball finds its way to the business end in the smartest time and shortest route possible.
Tammy Kupa said her explosive sister's return from Perth after a couple of years was a bonus.
"Briar and Rhi are amazing, especially Briar because you wouldn't expect her to get some of those balls but she just comes out of nowhere."
A grinning Kupa said of Heath: "We have played against her before and she hasn't been on but when she is she's very hard to stop so it was about our defence getting into her head space as much as possible and it was definitely harder tonight."
The game plan for Otane was to come out firing from the first whistle but Kupa said the Kaylene Higgs-coached Huias had commendably disrupted the flow.
She attributed luck to counteracting that tactic in the remaining quarters but the prudent will put that down to experience.
Kupa hailed another sister, coach Annemarie Kupa-Petera, for her nous and as "the hub of the team".
A disappointed Huias skipper Catrina O'Connell said: "I think we just didn't convert when we had our shots. Maybe we should have passed it around a bit more."
O'Connell felt a full-court press defence would have perhaps made Otane toil more. Huias' Ashlee Wilson shot at 88 per cent while Otane's Treyana Faulkner had 77 and Chris Leppein 75.
In some respects, the Huias had rattled Otane but they lost composure at crucial times to commit unforced errors and also didn't move to create space for the ball carrier soon after passing.
The difference in shooting between the sides was minimal (72 per cent to the Force and 71 to Huias) even though Huias relied heavily on Heath, who shot only at 63 per cent but her long-range missile device was switched on.
The 23-year-old former Tactix squad member was decisive in receiving a pass anywhere in the shooting D and trusting her instincts to drop them with conviction.
It was a hesitant and spluttering Huias midcourters that caused Higgs some consternation although furious swapping of bibs did provide some cohesiveness but not long enough to mount and sustain pressure.
Heath did provide the midcourt some impetus but that only compounded errors, something that happens when you're playing catch-up netball.
Otane levelled early 13-13, in the second quarter before pushing ahead in that 15-minute spell, 25-21. They also led 37-32 in the third quarter.
The jury's out on whether Huias will up the tempo in ensuring the Force Dynasty is halted next year to provide a modicum of sanity to the Super 6 dominance.
Asked if Huias were getting closer to that shackle-breaking party, O'Connell replied: "Oh, I don't know. Maybe tomorrow I'll evaluate that."
The school gym was too small for the influx of fans amid a shortage of parking space although a handful of people walked down from the road side.
A Hawke's Bay Netball official said they could not use Pettigrew-Green Arena in Taradale because Basketball Hawke's Bay had pre-booked it for its school finals from yesterday through to the weekend.
"This was the only full court we could find," she said, adding the Hastings Sports Centre was an option but steel poles on courtside made it unsafe for players and umpires.
