The Final 8 teams are set and the match-ups drawn for the quarter finals beginning this weekend. 

The end to the 2009 regular season was one of the tightest we have seen with numerous three way ties for positions and percentage used to determine the final places. The match-ups are as follows:

WSBL
Perry Lakes Hawks (1) v Joondalup City Wolves (8)
Southlands Boulevarde Tigers (2) v Lakeside Lightning (7)
Rockingham Flames (3) v Kalamunda Eastern Suns (6)
Southside Mitsubishi Redbacks (4) v Mandurah Magic (5)

MSBL
Lakeside Lightning (1) v Southside Mitsubishi Redbacks (8)
SKILLED Goldfields Giants (2) v Kalamunda Eastern Suns (7)
Titan Interactive Wolves (3) v Perry Lakes Hawks (6)
Dominos Geraldton Buccaneers (4) v Telstra Shop Success Cougars (5)

WSBL Final Ladder
MSBL Final Ladder

The WSBL ladder had a two-way tie for three positions. 2nd and 3rd spots were determined by a points count back with both Willetton & Rockingham on a 15-7 record. The Flames won in Round 9 by six points (81-75), however the Tigers won by ten (74-64) in the Round 18 re-match giving them a +4 advantage in the head to head.

Positions six and seven were determined on head to head with Kalamunda and Lakeside finishing 12-10. Kalamunda won both encounters with a 68-39 scoreline in Round 1 and 60-51 win in Round 16. Positions 9 and 10 saw Cockburn and East Perth finish 9-13, however Cockburn had a superior record winning both games 72-43 in Round 6 and 57-54 win Round 13.

The Men's competition had two three-way ties with positions 3, 4 & 5 seeing Wanneroo, Geraldton & Cockburn all finishing at 18-8. In the three-way head to head Wanneroo had a superior record at 3-1, losing only to Cockburn once in Round 14 105-97. Geraldton were 2-2 losing to Wanneroo in Round 6 100-85 and again in Round 15 80-75 yet they beat Cockburn both times. Cockburn were last of the three teams with a 1-3 record beating just Wanneroo once in Round 14 105-97.

The three-way tie that had everyone watching was positions 7, 8 & 9 with three teams all finishing 11-15 (Kalamunda, Perth & Stirling). In the three-way head to head all four teams had a 2-2 win loss record, meaning their points percentage in games played against each other determined their final positions. Kalamunda had a +31 points record (461 scored for and 430 scored against) leaving them in 7th position. Perth had a +7 record (422 scored for and 415 scored against) leaving them with the final playoff spot in 8th after their impressive win over Stirling. Stirling fared worst of the three teams head to head with a -38 record (401 scored for and 439 scored against) leaving them agonisingly short of a finals berth.

The Quarter Final times and dates will be finalised and published here at SBL.asn.au  early Monday. Week one will see the lower ranked teams play at home first with the higher ranked teams (in bold italics above) having Games 2 & 3 (if necessary) in Week 2.

Photo by Marg Prior