West Adelaide Bearcats (11-7, 4th) v North Adelaide Rockets (11-7, 5th), 8.15 pm @ Port Adelaide

The Bearcats will be hoping a series of missed opportunities do not haunt them any further when they face North at Port Adelaide in the Elimination Final.

After sitting in the top three between Rounds 3-17, West fell to a season-low outright fourth at the end of Round 18.

This was a really disappointing climax for a club that was Minor Premiers in 2010.

It looked as though being one of only three teams to not beat the Warriors would not hurt the Bearcats, until they went down to Sturt in Round 17, heaping all the pressure on to their final clash with Norwood.

Despite the absence of Jeff Dowdell (21.7 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 2.9 apg), West came back from a 10 point quarter-time deficit to hit the front late in the fourth quarter, but could not hold on, going down by four points.

The Bearcats will be warm favourites for this game, but the Rockets have defied the odds all season, and being the underdog will surely favour a team that has been just that all year.

West, however, is North’s bogey team.

The Bearcats are the only team the Rockets have failed to defeat this season, while Port Adelaide is the only venue they have not won at in the past two seasons.

On the bright side, North’s losses were by just six points this season and one point in 2010.

Overall, the Rockets have been the best team in the competition during their last 14 games, winning 13 and losing just three.

In contrast, West has won just four of 10 following a 7-1 start.

Besides Dowdell, who had 19 points and 11 rebounds in his team’s 74-68 victory in Round 13, the Bearcats have plenty of options at the helm.

David Nurse (14.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 3.1 apg) and Blake Truslove (11.4 ppg, 9.5 rpg) have both had very good seasons, while Tristan Braithwaite (9.2 rpg, 3.2 rpg, 1.6 apg) could be the x-factor.

Braithwaite has struggled for most of this season since moving from Southern, but has stepped up in recent matches, lifting his scoring output to 12.3 ppg over his past six matches.

Anthony Spadavecchia (7.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 4.4 apg), Paul Rankin (6.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg), Ben Evans (6.8 ppg, 5.9 rpg) and Adam Pearce (3.8 rpg, 3.1 rpg, 2.8 apg) will provide invaluable veteran experience.

North also has a host of players who can get the job done, although the make-up of the team could not be more different.

The Rockets have a core of quality youth players, including Matthew Lycett (15.9 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 2.2 apg), Tom Rowe (12.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.5 apg), Josh Bond (12.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.6 apg), Brandon Brine (9.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg), Rhys Elliott (8.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.1 apg) and Brett Collins (6.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg).

Ryan Franceschinis (12.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 2.6 apg) is the only key Rocket above the age of 24.

Finals usually come down to defence and rebounding, factors that will weigh in the ’Cats favour, as they have a significant size advantage.

Add the difference in experience into the equation and the result here should be a West Adelaide victory.

By James Woite