THE semi finals of the women's SBL season get underway this Saturday night with the final teams alive in the competition looking to get off to a winning start in Game 1 action.

Both semi-final matches of the opening weekend of the three-game series' take place this Saturday night with the Wanneroo Wolves taking on the Rockingham Flames at Joondalup Basketball Stadium while the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers battle the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at Eaton Recreation Centre.

The Wolves host their Game 1 against the Flames on Saturday at Joondalup Basketball Stadium with both teams without question eyeing off the 2013 championship now that the minor premier Willetton Tigers have been knocked out.

Wanneroo was sitting on the top of the SBL standings for much of the regular season but then ended up slipping down to third position but the Wolfpack showed their championship credentials with a dominant showing in the quarter finals against the Stirling Senators.

The Wolves won Game 1 against Stirling 84-59 at Warwick Leisure Centre and then wrapped up the series with a 75-68 victory last Saturday at Joondalup Basketball Centre.

The Rockingham Flames made last year's SBL grand final before losing the championship decider to the South West Slammers, and have backed up that performance with a strong 2013 campaign that saw them finish the regular season in second position in the standings with a 16-6 record.

The Flames then took on the seventh-seeded Cockburn Cougars in the quarter finals and opened it up with a 105-89 victory in Game 1 at Wally Hagan Stadium before downing the Cougars 89-70 to wrap things up two-nil last Friday night at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

That now sets up what should be an enthralling semi-final battle between the Wolves and Flames starting this Saturday at Joondalup before it shifts to the Mike Barnett Sports Complex for Game 2 next Friday and then if required also for Game 3 next Saturday night.

The other semi-final battle tips off also on Saturday night at Eaton Recreation Centre when the South West Slammers take on the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

While the winner of the Slammers-Suns match-up might be the underdogs heading into the grand final against either the Wolves or Flames, once you are in a grand final anything could happen and an unlikely championship for either the eighth or fifth-ranked side might be a real possibility.

The Slammers struggled for much of the regular season coming off last year's memorable championship ending up with just an 11-11 record to scrape into the finals in eighth position.

However, South West showed it is a force still to be taken seriously in 2013 by beating the top-seeded Willetton Tigers in the quarter finals.

The Slammers won Game 1 at Eaton Recreation Centre in a thriller 67-65 and then backed it up at Willetton Basketball Stadium in Game 2 coming out victorious 68-62 to knock off a Tigers team that deservedly was championship favourites after finishing the regular season so strongly.

The Suns certainly can't be taken lightly, though, after beating the Lightning in the quarter finals. Kalamunda won Game 1 65-62 at Ray Owen Sports Centre and then 71-60 in Game 2 at Lakeside Recreation Centre to advance through to the semi finals.

It should be an enthralling series with Jennie Rintala, Rachel Muenggenborg and Sarah-Jane Knox among Kalamunda's in-form players with Casey Lockwood, Shani Amos, Nikita-Lee Martin and Chelsea Burns among those playing well for the Wolves.

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene Maisey