LAKESIDE and Wanneroo meet in this Saturday night's men's SBL Grand Final for 2013 in an enthralling match-with the Lightning having dominated the season but the Wolves perhaps being the most talented team in the competition.

On top of obviously wanting to win the SBL championship for 2013, both teams have added motivation to try and send off two greats their respective clubs.

Andy Stewart will be coaching his last match in charge of the Lakeside Lightning having now coached them for 14 years where he has made seven grand finals and won three championships with him now looking to secure a fourth as he bows out from the team he has coached so superbly.

However, Lakeside isn’t the only team saying goodbye to someone who has been the heart and soul of its club.

Former Perth Wildcats and Singapore Slingers NBL player Damian Matacz will be playing his last SBL match with the Wanneroo Wolves in Saturday night's grand final at the WA Basketball Centre as well.

He is entering the championship decider still in outstanding form as well coming off 30 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in last week's Game 2 semi-final victory over the Perry Lakes Hawks.

The 34-year-old still averaged an impressive 20.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game throughout the 2013 season.

Lakeside finished the SBL regular season for 2013 five games clear on top of the standings with a 23-3 record and having won seven straight matches.

The Lightning also went through both their quarter and semi-final series' against the Perth Redbacks and East Perth Eagles without dropping a game so now enter Saturday night's grand final on an 11-game winning streak.

Lakeside had no trouble taking care of Perth in the quarter finals winning Game 1 at Belmont Oasis 84-79 and then Game 2 at Lakeside Recreation Centre 106-90.

That set up a semi-final battle with the East Perth Eagles with Lakeside having to come from behind at three quarter-time to win Game 1 by 10 points at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre on the back of a 32-20 final period.

Lakeside might have had a hard time against the Eagles in Game 1 of the semi-final series, but they showed their full array of ability last Friday night with an emphatic 131-75 hammering of an East Perth team obviously dearly missing stars Tom Jervis and Jarrod Balcombe.

Wanneroo might have finished in just sixth position in the standings at the end of the regular season with a record of 15-11, but the Wolves were clearly a better team than that suggested.

With the likes of Matacz, Trian Iliadis, Seb Salinas, Rob Huntington, Brad Robbins, Doug Gates and Reece Maxwell in their line-up, the Wolves possessed a championship-calibre team and now they have proven that by winning through to Saturday night's grand final.

Wanneroo had a big ask in the quarter finals coming up against the third-placed Geraldton Buccaneers, but won Game 1 by 15 points at Joondalup Basketball Stadium before wrapping up the two-nil series win with a 93-81 win in Game 2 at Active West Stadium.

The Wolves then took on the second-placed Perry Lakes Hawks in the semi finals with a grand final spot up for grabs and scored an impressive 107-91 Game 1 victory at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.

The series then shifted to the WA Basketball Centre and the Wolves prevailed 104-98 to advance to the grand final.

How much it counts for is hard to measure, but the added bonus heading into the grand final for the Wolves is that they won at the WA Basketball Centre as well last weekend to earn a spot in the championship decider against the hugely in-form Lightning.

Article by Chris Pike