Forestville Eagles (13-5, 2nd) v Sturt Sabres (12-6, 3rd), 8.15 pm @ Wayville

With nine wins from its last 10 outings, the Sabres will be full of confidence going into their Qualifying Final matchup at Forestville on Saturday.

However, the Eagles have no reason to fear their opponents, as they are the only side to defeat Sturt during that span.

This second versus third blockbuster could hardly be more even on paper.

The matchup at Forward between Forestville’s Rashad Tucker (20.1 ppg, 14.6 rpg, 5.3 apg) and Sturt’s Jacob Holmes (21.2 ppg, 15.9 rpg, 6.9 apg) will have a huge influence on who will win this game.

Tucker has controlled his game to accommodate his teammates this season, but with the stakes so high, do not be surprised if he lifts to another level.

Another critical matchup will be at Shooting Guard, where Eagles Captain Brad Sullivan (19 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.9 apg) will go head-to-head with returning Sabre Darren Ng (22.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 2.8 apg), who has not played since July 10.

At Point Guard, Sturt’s Mark Bauer (7 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.4 apg) will fill in for Tom Daly (13.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 5.2 apg), and will battle Adam Doyle (6.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 5.4 apg).

In the middle, Forestville’s John Wernham (6.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg) will likely start in place of Neil Mottram (9.4 ppg, 8.8 rpg), who has played just eight minutes since the teams last met on July 9.

The Sabres will start 36ers development player Jan Warbout (12.7 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 2.4 apg) at Centre, who can stretch the defence with his strong perimeter shot.

At the other Forward position, Eagles shooter Brad Haydon (10.1 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.4 apg) will face all-rounder Tim Klaosen (6.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.4 apg).

Forestville appears to have the overall edge in depth, with plenty of quality on its bench.

Nic Blair (9.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.4 apg) and James Boonstoppel (7.4 ppg, 2.9 apg) are potent options at the Guard spots, while Majok Deng (10 ppg, 5.5 rpg in last four matches) and Trent Fildes (9.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.6 apg) give the Eagles added front court depth.

Nathan Kareta (4.8 ppg, 1.4 rpg) has had some good performances off the bench this season, while John Marriott (6.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg) can be counted on for production.

Adam Gavranovich (3.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg) should also see some time.

Forestville may have won its last encounter with Sturt (83-80), but other than that, the Sabres have had the wood on the Eagles in recent times.

Sturt won the four encounters prior to that, including an 88-72 win at Wayville in Round 4 this year, and a 94-81 victory in the same building last season.

However, both teams know that stats count for nothing when the score tips off at 0-0 on Saturday.

Although Forestville appears the deeper of the two teams, the Sabres appear to hold the edge in the starting five.

Unless Tucker is absolutely on fire, Sturt should make the most of its run of luck and advance to the Second Semi-Final.

By James Woite