Men's Grand Final Preview
A great match in the first championship decider at the WA Basketball Centre is likely, with the two sides finishing with the same win-loss record during the regular season.
Lakeside swept Perth in the best-of-three semi-finals to advance to its sixth Grand Final, while Willetton beat Geraldton 2-1 to stay on course for its first championship.
The Tigers recovered from a 30-point thrashing in game one at the Buccaneers to win game two 108-79 and the deciding game 118-102.
Cam Tovey is one of Willetton’s key players, with the Perth Wildcats forward averaging 26.7 points per game in the Geraldton series.
NBL centre Daniel Johnson leads the Tigers with 24.5 points per game for the season, while import power forward Ty Shaw averages 16.2 points and 15.3 rebounds.
Willetton coach Shayne Hampel said he knows it will be tough for his side to win despite its experience.
“The Lightning are the champions so I think we’re massive underdogs,” Hampel said.
“Obviously we have to shut down all their good players, which is hard because they haven’t got a weak link in their team.”
While Willetton has never won a championship, Lakeside is aiming for back-to-back titles and its fourth Grand Final victory in six years.
Lakeside finished top after the regular season, ahead of the Tigers on head-to-head, and has won 11 straight games since last losing in mid June.
Import forwards Luke Payne and Ben Beran were crucial to the Lightning’s success in the semis, with Beran averaging 35 points and Payne at 28 points per game in the series.
Jarrad Prue is another of Lakeside’s key players, with the star centre averaging 19.6 rebounds per game for the season.
Lakeside coach Andy Stewart told SportFM 91.3 his young side will have to step up to match it with Willetton’s veterans.
“We’ve got a young squad and they’ve got an experienced squad...Johnson and Tovey are used to playing on the big stage with their NBL experience, so it’ll be a competitive game,” he said.
“We’ve been playing pretty good team defence and that’s probably been our main strength lately.
“Beran has been in pretty good form and Prue has been exceptional on the boards, and they’ll need to keep that up.”
Limited tickets for Saturday nights Men’s Grand Final are on sale now through Ticketmaster. Click here to purchase tickets.
Article by Jacob Kagi
Photo by Grant Lauterbach
Purchase your tickets for the SBL Grand Final now through any Ticketmaster outlet or call 1300 136 122. Click here to purcahse tickets online.
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