Eastern Mavericks (4-13, 9th) v South Adelaide Panthers (7-10, 7th)

The Mavericks and Panthers will close their disappointing seasons by facing off with one another in the Hills on Saturday.

Both teams have had opportunities this season to make a finals push but failed to take them.

Eastern put in some strong performances early in the season, but a string of close losses saw it fall down the ladder.

After sitting 3-2 five rounds in, the Mavs lost to then-strugglers North Adelaide, before going down by single figures to Forestville, Woodville, South Adelaide and West Adelaide (in over-time) in successive weeks.

The Panthers struggled for consistency in the first half of the season, before a stunning run of form from Daniel Johnson and three straight wins got them back in the hunt.

With its season on the line, South led by 11 at half-time against Sturt only two weeks ago.

However, a dismal second half put the Panthers out of the finals race.

That second half carried on into their performance against Norwood, where they suffered their worst loss of the season in Round 17, losing 73-107 to Norwood, despite 19 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists from Johnson, and 17 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists from the returning (and sorely missed) Mitch Creek.

The Mavs were in front against the Warriors after 20 minutes last week, but could not sustain the pressure in the second half, losing 63-74.

On the positive side, Jack Madgen (16 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds) scored a career-high for the second week in a row.

Shane Breheny was a workhorse as always with 14 points and 11 boards.

Last time they met, South got up 94-86.

The final round is renowned for an upset or two. Don’t be surprised if Eastern produces one here.

North Adelaide Rockets (10-7, 5th) v Forestville Eagles (13-4, 2nd)

With fifth and second spots respectively sewn up, North Adelaide and Forestville will be playing for little more than form and bragging rights when the two sides meet at Hillcrest on Saturday.

Tracy York’s Rockets have been the surprise packets of the year, losing more games in the first four rounds than they have in the last 13.

The Eagles always seemed destined to make the finals, but to finish above last year’s Grand Finalists Sturt and West has been an impressive effort from Andy Simons’ men, who are perhaps a touch unlucky to have missed out on the Minor Premiership.

North Adelaide bounced back from a woeful showing against Centrals by trouncing Southern 78-40 on Sunday.

The Rockets held their opponents to under 24% shooting from the field, forced 30 turnovers and won the rebounding count with ease.

Matthew Lycett produced 18 of them to go with his 10 points, while Josh Bond had a game-high 18 points, and Curtis Scipio had his best game for the club with 12 points, 9 assists and 9 steals.

Forestville started with a bang against Centrals, before holding off its lower-ranked opponent to win 94-88.

Rashad Tucker had 19 points, 21 rebounds and 9 assists, Brad Sullivan had a team-high 22 points, and Majok Deng again showed his exciting potential and athleticism.

Last time they met, the Rockets pulled off an upset 94-85 victory.

However, I think the Eagles will reverse their result away from home on Saturday, just as they did in the corresponding game last year.

Norwood Flames (14-3, 1st) v West Adelaide Bearcats (11-6, 3rd)

In the Match of the Round, West Adelaide will put third place on the line when it visits Norwood on Saturday.

The Bearcats would have had a chance of jumping to second if they had have overcome Sturt last week, but fell eight points short.

Instead, West is now locked on the same amount of wins as the Sabres, ahead only on the series split.

With Sturt at home to bottom-placed Southern, the Bearcats must beat the Flames or else face an Elimination Final with North Adelaide.

Jeff Dowdell (21.7 ppg, 51.1% FG, 10.6 rpg), David Nurse (15 ppg, 42/120 3FG, 5 rpg) and Blake Truslove (11.5 ppg, 55.7% FG, 9.6 rpg) will need to have big nights if the ’Cats are to get up over the league leaders.

The Flames are coming off a successful double-header, comfortably defeating South Adelaide and Central Districts.

The key players for Norwood, who has the Minor Premiership wrapped up, are Andrew Webber (16.1 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 3.9 apg), David Cooper (12.9 ppg, 48.3% FG, 10.5 rpg) and Todd Matthews (12.6 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 4.1 apg).

It will be interesting to see how the Flames approach this game, as this result could have a large bearing on who they meet in the Semi Final.

Last time they met, Norwood prevailed 68-63 in a nail-biter.

The Bearcats will no doubt be the more desperate of the two sides, and this may be enough to get them the win they need.

Sturt Sabres (11-6, 4th) v Southern Tigers (2-15, 10th)

The Sabres have a fantastic opportunity to make their bid for a top three finish when they host the Tigers on Saturday.

After an ordinary start to the season, Sturt has come good when it matters most, winning eight of nine.

The Sabres pulled off a potentially season-changing victory on the road against West last week, winning 66-58.

The boards were the key to the victory, with Sturt pulling down 14 extra rebounds.

Jacob Holmes finished the night with 23 points and 15 rebounds, while Nathan Kareta had a career night with 16 points, including four trifectas.

Jan Warbout added 8 points and 14 rebounds.

If the Sabres win and the Bearcats lose, Sturt will face Forestville at Wayville in the Qualifying Final.

However, if either of those results are different, the Sabres will play North at Pasadena in the Elimination Final.

For Southern, this game is all about pride. The Tigers have lost 12 straight, all by at least 10 points, including a blowout home defeat to North Adelaide in Round 17.

Hugh Pinkard bobbed up for 10 points, but no other Southern player scored in double figures.

Michael Florance, clearly the Tigers’ Player of the Season, was held to just 8 points on 2/11 shooting and 5 rebounds.

This is the first time these teams have met at Pasadena since Round 1 2010, a game in which Southern was victorious.

Whether or not the Tigers can get any confidence out of that night remains to be seen.

In the corresponding match this year at Morphett Vale, Sturt won 79-65, but the margin will probably be a lot greater this time.

Central District Lions (5-12, 8th) v Woodville Warriors (8-9, 6th)

The Warriors can seal sixth spot and finish at .500 if they can overcome the Lions at Starplex.

Woodville has had a great season, but a shock loss to Southern in Round 3 and a home defeat to North in Round 10 have cost Al Green’s side dearly.

Last Saturday, the Warriors overcame a slow start to defeat the Mavs.

Josh Knight had his best game of the season with 20 points and 24 rebounds, while Mark Egel scored 12 points and Steve Pilkington 10.

Centrals took it up to both Forestville and Norwood, but fell short in both matches.

A 17-33 first quarter was costly against the Eagles, while a 15-30 third period was likewise versus the Flames.

After producing a triple-double against Forestville, Josh Kollasch was well-held against Norwood, but Daniel Carlin played well in both, scoring a total of 45 points.

The Lions had won four of five prior to last weekend.

The last time they met, the Warriors overcame an 11 point half-time deficit to win 82-69.

This is a difficult game to predict and I am sure it will be a close, entertaining affair.

It is also the last game for Matt Atkins, who has been an outstanding player for Centrals over the years, and I think they will farewell him with a victory.

By James Woite