The Semi Finals of the Central Australian Basketball League saw high crowd numbers, buzzer beaters and upsets, as North Adelaide’s men and Forestville’s women were eliminated from the race for the 2008 premiership.

In front of a packed house at Hillcrest stadium, South Adelaide captain Danny Kosmider hit a frantic 12 foot put-back in the final second to give the Panthers a 2 point victory over 2007 premiers North Adelaide. The game will go down in history for featuring a buzzer beater at the end of each of the quarters, with a long 3 pointer from Canadian guard Justin Halleran at ¾ time critical in giving South the momentum heading into the final quarter.

Earlier at Pasadena, Sturt’s women had the most convincing of semi final victories, defeating North Adelaide by 27 points. Renae Camino played a big part for the Sabres, but they achieved the victory without the services of fellow Adelaide Lightning guard Angela Marino, who is en route to Beijing.

An extra stand was required to accommodate over 600 spectators at Wayville for the men’s and women’s double header between Forestville and Norwood. In the women’s game, Jess Foley led the Flames to a 9 point victory after trailing by 5 at ¾ time. The Flames fairytale run from 6th place a week before the finals is reminiscent of 2007 when they defied predictions to qualify for the Grand Final.

In the men’s game at Wayville, Forestville handled a late surge from Norwood, eventually winning by 15 after scoring more in the first quarter than Norwood did in the first half. Forestville were led by Matt Sutton and Scott Arnold who had 17 points, while 24 points from Norwood guard Todd Matthews kept his team in the game.