The Central ABL finals take a step up on Saturday August 22 with the minor premiers seeing their first finals action.

Sturt men dealt with the week off by having an internal scrimmage last week and would be well prepared for Norwood, whom they will meet in the second semi final at Pasadena at 7:30pm. These teams played two weeks ago in the final minor round game at Mars, and despite that game being close for three quarters, Sturt’s final 18 point margin and home court advantage would make them slight favourites. Adelaide 36ers David Cooper and Jacob Holmes will have a great battle inside the paint but the challenge for Norwood will be to stop Darren Ng, the league’s second leading scorer at 25.5 points per game. At the other end, Sturt will need to contain Todd Matthews, whose ability to make good reads off on-ball screens will test the Sabres’ perimeter defence.

The corresponding women’s game is at 6:30pm at Port Adelaide and also features the Sabres, though this Sturt team had to do it the hard way, qualifying from third place by beating Forestville last week. Forestville had swept the minor round season series with Sturt but could not handle the size of the Sabres, which features WNBL talent in Monique and Brigid Bowley and Katie Orr. Their opponent this week, West Adelaide, has not had as good an end to the season as its start, suffering losses to both Forestville and Sturt recently, but a solid win against Southern at least sent them into the finals with some confidence. Player/coach Sam Woosnam has done a good job of balancing both roles in the minor rounds, but this must surely become more difficult with the extra intensity that finals basketball brings. In addition to regular contributors Nikita-Lee Martin and Trudy Holland, the Bearcats need another player to step up in this game, to keep pace with league-leading scorer Angela Marino.

In the men’s knockout semi-final, Forestville faces an upbeat West Adelaide at 8:15pm at Wayville, who eliminated North Adelaide last week. 20 year-old 36er hopeful Chris Molitor has put together a solid season, and his size and ability to float to the perimeter create matchup problems for most teams. Forestville often surround Peter Hoban with Matt Sutton, Brad Gerlach, Brad Sullivan and Harri Harvey, all of whom would be considered guards at most teams, so Forestville may have less matchup-troubles on Molitor than taller groups, though may be exposed inside against the Bearcat front court which includes Blake Truslove and Shane Crothers. Truslove has made a solid return from injury this season and should have a great matchup with Hoban inside.

North Adelaide women survived a slow start in the elimination final against South to qualify for the first semi final against Forestville, which is at 6:30pm at Wayville. The leadership of Tania Dhu and Jo Hill, in her first full Central ABL season in years, has created a great environment which has allowed the younger Jamie-Lee Peris and Kirsty Williams to shine. Forestville features a more experienced lineup that would still be sporting wounds from the loss to Sturt, so expect the likes of Jess Fergus, Dee Ranford and Jess Mahony to bounce back. The victor of Mia Newley’s likely matchup with Peris may have a big impact on the outcome.