Geelong Lady Cats (3-13)

Big V State Championship

vs. Waverley (11-4) @ Waverley Basketball Centre Sunday 2.00pm

The Lady Cats will take an extremely undersized line-up into their penultimate match of the season against the finals bound Falcons. Co-captain Sarah De Grandi is unavailable, while veteran big Lauren Green’s been booked in for season-ending hand surgery. Maddi Taylor’s expected to return from a back injury, while talented junior Ellie Stevens will be added to the roster. Chantelle Brockett will shoulder much of the inside work along with Amy Wormald in De Grandi’s absence. Brockett has been the Lady Cats top scorer in their last two outings. However she has fouled out in both of those, in just 13 minutes of playing time on each occasion.

Geelong Cats (11-9)

Big V Division One

vs. La Trobe University (2-17) @ The Arena Annexe, Sunday 3.00pm

The weekend wins over Werribee and Sherbrooke have put the Cats play-off hopes back in their own hands. Despite being headed for a quick return to Division Two, La Trobe will be no pushover on Sunday. In the previous meeting between the two sides back in round seven, the Cats held off the Students for an 88-79 win. Paul Hutchison and Seb Loader are starting to return to something resembling their 2008 form, which took Geelong all the way to the grand final series. JJ Paton and Patrick Phillips, along with Hutchison and Keith Harrison provide the Cats with one of the deepest backcourts in the competition. If the Cats want to be serious contenders, they need to blow La Trobe away on Sunday, with plenty riding on the final round clash against Whittlesea on July 25.

Geelong Cats (12-5)

Big V Youth League Two

vs. Coburg (9-9) @ The Arena Annexe, Sunday 1.00pm

The Youth League squad caught a welcome break on Sunday, with Altona’s win over Whittlesea sending the Cats back into the all-important second spot behind Hawthorn. Dave Brown’s roster has been without MVP contender Steve Wiasak for the best part of two months due to a range of illness and unavailability, and in that time has gone 4-1. His expected return for the remaining three regular season fixtures should see the Cats get first crack at Hawthorn in the qualifying final in August. However, Coburg is the first of three hurdles for the Cats. In their only previous meeting with the Giants, back in round 6, Geelong came away with an 88-79 victory. Wiasak starred in that game with 30 points and 13 rebounds.