South 65 (Claire Johnson 18, Rachael Litster 14, Sarah Peddle 9, Charlea Taylor 7) defeated

Centrals 64 (Amber Land 22, Fiona Perso 15, Dayna Roberts 11, Shenae Hosking 6)

Chasing their only win of the year, Centrals’ season ended in heartbreak when they fell to the Panthers by a solitary point on the last shot of the night. The Lions and the Panthers went basket for basket for much of the game. Centrals did however hold the lead for most of the game. In the first period with 3 minutes of play remaining scores were 14-9 in favour of the Lions. The Lions maintained a small buffer and in the second with 37 seconds left to the half time break they were out by 7 points, 38-31 after a further basket to Amber Land. This was the biggest margin between the sides throughout the contest. By three quarter time South had closed the gap to just 2 points, 52-54. In the opening minute and a half of the last period South’s Rachael Litster scored the first four points to re-claim the lead for the Panthers for the first time since the early minutes of the second term. Fiona Perso and Land scored the next baskets of the game to again regain the lead for the Lions. Former Centrals guard and junior Charlea Taylor put South ahead 59-58 with a 3 pointer, and this was followed by a basket to Claire Johnson. Perso and Land scored again putting Centrals in front 62-61 with 4:54 to play. The lead changed again with a further basket to Taylor but with less than a minute to play Perso scored creating the seventh lead change of the quarter, scores in favour of the home side 64-63. Then with 7 seconds left Claire Johnson delivered the final blow, South prevailing 65-64 to deny the Lions a win in 2010. 

West 91 (Nikita-Lee Martin 20, Alana Nairn 16, Sam Woosnam 15, Alice Gee 14) defeated Southern 67 (Rosalie Cutri 14, Robyn Jennings 11, Madelaine Cunningham, Kate Mousley 10) 

In Round 9 Southern pulled off what many may have regarded as an upset when they defeated the Bearcats 72-67 with a dominant second half performance led by Robyn Jennings with 21 points and Ashleigh Spencer with 19 points. They finished the top two scorers in that encounter. Both teams entered this match knowing that their finals berths were assured, West scheduled to play in a qualifying final next week and Southern set to play in a knockout elimination final. West showed their superiority in this match winning all four quarters in an even team performance led by Nikita-Lee Martin who finished the game high scorer with 20 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. Playing Coach Sam Woosnam finished with the impressive figures of 15 points, 8 rebounds and a round high 14 assists. West clearly shared the ball around compiling 32 assists for the game while in contrast, the Tigers recorded 14 assists. West were able score at a much higher conversion rate than Southern with half of their points scored from inside the keyway. West were down several players only suiting 8 players for the match. Southern entered the match with its full complement of 12 players which included Amber Phillips and Jessica Searle who have only played 7 matches between them this season. West claimed the win, but Southern, with the pressure off may have had another agenda before their finals match against the Flames.

Eastern 85 (Tess Madgen 30, Alex Wilson 21, Jamie Fricker 10, Danni Clayton 7) defeated

Woodville 63 (Katherine Perkas 18, April Brown 10, Jodie Barratt, Claire Christie 8)

In the early minutes of this match Eastern, mainly through the efforts of Tess Madgen and Jamie Fricker, raced to an early 9-0 lead. Woodville scored a couple of late baskets in the quarter but by the first break the locals had set up a 17 point buffer when they led 27-10. In the second period against the trend of play Woodville were able to mount a challenge mainly through the efforts of April Brown and Katherine Perkas. By halftime the Warriors had trimmed the margin to just 4 points, 41-37. In the early part of the third period a number of players from both sides found themselves in foul trouble. Woodville had 4 players in that position, including Brooke Gathercole and Jodie Barratt with 4 fouls each. Madgen picked up her 4th foul along with Brittany Mickan-Winter and Ashleigh White for Woodville later in the quarter. In the closing minutes of the third term Mavs junior Alex Wilson scored 9 points in succession.  Her contribution helped her team regain the ascendancy after Woodville momentarily took the lead at the halfway mark of the quarter. By the three quarter time break the locals were up 62-52.  Early baskets in the last term to the Mavericks saw Eastern push out to a 20 point margin. In the remaining time available the teams traded baskets with Woodville unable to make any impression on the deficit. 

Forestville 79 (Jess Fergus 25, Mia Newley 23, Jessica Mahony 17, Alex Duncan 10) defeated

Norwood 59 (Michelle Trewartha 12, Jess Smart 11, Phoebe Custance 9, Kate Gladstone 7)

After losing the match the first time these two sides met the Eagles were not about to gift Norwood a finals berth from this encounter. The Eagles jumped Norwood early and at one stage after Mia Newley hit a 3 pointer, led 12-5 before Norwood closed the margin at the end of the quarter, their cause helped by a couple of baskets from Phoebe Custance who was playing only her 8th game this season. Forestville killed the game off with a 13 point tear in the first 5 minutes of the second quarter. Jess Fergus, Jess Mahony and Newley all hit 3 pointers during this period. At the end of the run the Eagles led 29-14 before Jess Hansberry scored for the Flames. After the Hansberry basket Alex Duncan scored a 3 pointer and Newley scored again only compounding Norwood’s woes. At the halftime break the Eagles were in control 40-22 with Norwood seemingly out of the contest. Norwood did manage to reduce the margin to 13 points in the early part of the last quarter before Forestville steadied the ship and cruised to victory winning by 20 points. Forestville now has the week off before they meet the winner of the qualifying final. Norwood will be pitted against Southern at home in the elimination final after North’s loss to Sturt.

Sturt 67 (Caroline Burgess 16, Bree Farley 15, Hannah Richards, Brigid Bowley 10) defeated

North 62 (Jo Hill 16, Kirsty Williams 15, Shannon McKay, Tahnee Mansfield, Bec Lock 9) 

North had everything to play for and nothing to lose in their last match of the minor round when they hosted Sturt at Hillcrest. A finals berth would be the reward for a win and missing the finals the penalty if they lost. The match opened well for the Sabres when they led 14-5 with 5:24 of the first quarter remaining in a high scoring affair. Kara Hargreaves and Hannah Richards were damaging for the Sabres early and Kirsty Williams and Tahnee Mansfield were the major scorers for the Rockets when they trimmed the margin back to just 3 points (20-23) by quarter time. In the second period Caroline Burgess with two 3 pointers and another basket helped keep the Sabres out in front. They were able to maintain a margin of about 10 points for most of the quarter. In the third term North mounted a spirited challenge to climb into the top five with 3 point bombs from Shannon McKay (two) and Williams (two) bridging the gap. By three quarter time North had closed to within 4 points of Sturt, a Bree Farley basket with 3 seconds remaining creating the three quarter time score, 56-52. In the all important last term Brigid Bowley in her 8th match of season hit the first basket, followed by baskets to Burgess and Farley.  Those baskets ruined North’s final aspirations the Sabres up 62-52 with 6:10 remaining.  As time ran down, North’s McKay and Bec Lock connected on 3s and after Lock hit hers with 1:12 remaining only 4 points separated the sides. A converted foul shot by Hargreaves created the final score in favour of the Sabres ending North’s crack at a finals appearance.