Who wants a week off?

The minor premiership did no favours to the 1999 Forestville men’s team who, after going undefeated in the minor rounds, lost two finals games and were eliminated. Similarly, the 2007 Sturt women’s team finished two games clear after the minor rounds, only to drop two straight after the week off.

Both teams again avoided action last week, and are hoping to avoid the same prospect this year.

On Saturday night, Sturt and North women do battle at Pasadena, for the honour of being the first team to qualify for the 2008 Grand Final. Renae Camino joined the Sabres half way through the season, and while she’s yet to display a performance equal to that of the WNBL Grand Final, any number of North guards may find it very difficult to contain her. When these two teams last met, Camino led all scorers with 23, and is likely to be in even better form leading into both the CABL finals and a season in France.

Also on Saturday night, North’s men fight to avoid elimination at the hands of South, whose victory over Sturt last week was in front of a packed house at Marion. Kelly Manning’s Panthers have improved by at least three positions on last year’s 7th placing, and while they wouldn’t be favoured to win this game, would hold no fear of the Rockets. In their last meeting, South held a 6 point lead at half time, and the eventual 13 point margin in North’s favour was one of it’s toughest of the season. North meanwhile would be charged to improve on the 26% shooting percentage it produced last week, well below the 43% it averages for the season.

The smorgasbord of basketball (the inspiration for the most random of photos accompanying this article – only a Tom Izzo reference would be more obscure) at Wayville runs from at 11am to 7pm on Sunday, with an Under 19 Oceania doubleheader as the appetizer and entrée and two Central ABL games as the main course and dessert. Norwood’s women could be on the verge of mimicking its 2007 fairytale finale, but to do so from 5th place without Emily Fryters would be that much tougher. Forestville’s backcourt features two of the better defenders in the league, in Jess Mahony, and Dee Ranford, so expect them to have a great battle with Jess Foley.

Norwood’s men are on a high, having beaten North at Hillcrest last week in the most convincing of fashions. Their last meeting with Forestville resulted in a comfortable Forestville victory, but a near 30 point margin in Norwood’s favour earlier in the season indicates that any result is possible. The battle at the power forward spot will be key in this game; Keith Krause scored 32 against Forestville in round 8, while Pero Vasiljevic had 28 in round 17. When these teams last met in a final in 2006, over 500 people saw Forestville win a 2 point thriller at Wayville, and a full day of basketball action should see similar crowds this year.