Somerset women and Penguin men have moved through to the Grand Final to be played in Penguin this Friday night.

There were two big upsets, Wynyard women easily accounted for a very disappointing Penguin team by 27 points. Penguin men finally put a stop to Burnie’s undefeated run over two years in a classy 13 point victory.

In the women’s first semi-final Penguin began well and had a 5 point lead at quarter time. Wynyard began to increase their defensive intensity, forcing Penguin to take poor shots.

In the third quarter Wynyard completely shut down Penguin’s offense restricting the Blues to only 4 points for the quarter. Penguin were unable to restrict the Wildcats offense. Ellyse Gamble dominated under the basket.

In the second-semi Ulverstone were missing their point guard Shelby Rayner with commitments to her School’s Production. The game was close until the second and third quarters where Somerset set up an 11 point margin by three-quarter time. It appeared that Somerset were in control, however, the Hoppers stepped up their defensive pressure and began to create turn-overs.

With a few minutes to go the margin was only 3 points. Sami Phillips made a clutch 3 pointer to steady the ship. Ulverstone tried valiantly but could not bridge the gap.

The men’s first-semi saw the closest battle of the night, with many lead changes throughout the game. At three-quarter time Latrobe held a slender 1 point lead. Latrobe made their run on the back of Jack Triffett who scored an outstanding 17 points for the term. The battle of the two five men, Hugh King and Mitchell Pulford was great to witness.

In the biggest upset of the night, Penguin whose form going into the finals was very patchy, managed to put a stop to Burnie’s undefeated run. Burnie started the game well and led 17 – 11 at quarter time. In the second quarter Penguin completely outclassed the Tigers with a 30 – 17 point scoring run. Fraser Eaton and Tyler Kelly were scoring at will. Burnie’s inside game dropped away and every time the Tigers made a run Penguin had all the answer and ran out comfortable winners.

Preview Preliminary Final Tuesday night at Latrobe

In the women’s game Ulverstone will regain the services of Shelby Rayner who was badly missed. However, Wynyard’s strong defensive zone will make it difficult for Ulverstone offensively. In what will be a close contest, the Hoppers experience should get them over the line.

The men’s game will be a beauty. It will be tough under the basket and an extremely fast-paced game. Burnie’s ability to score inside has become a problem of late as well as their ability to shut teams down defensively. Latrobe will go in favourites on their home court and stop Burnie’s quest for four straight titles.

Results 1^st & 2^nd Semi Finals

Women

1^st Semi - Wynyard 61 d Penguin 34

Best Players – Wynyard: C. Haines, E. Gamble, L. Haines. Penguin: M. Johnson, M. Hayward, A. Joseph.

Scorers – Wynyard: C. Haines 12, B. Groenewege 12, L. Haines 10. Penguin: M. Johnson 10, M. Hayward 9, A. Joseph 5.

2^nd Semi – Somerset 70 d Ulverstone 66

Best Players – Somerset: S. Phillips, J. Brazendale, A. Payne. Ulverstone: S. O’Neill, M. Synnott, E. Hingston.

Scorers – Somerset: S. Phillips 21, A. Payne 13, J. Brazendale 10. Ulverstone: S. O’Neill 16, E. Hingston 15, M. Synnott 9.

Men

1^st Semi – Latrobe 78 d Smithton 72

Best Players – J. Triffett, M. Pulford, A. Triffett. Smithton: D. Saville, H. King, BZ. Heres.

Scorers – Latrobe: J. Triffett 39, M. Pulford 17, B. Arnold 7. Smithton: BZ. Heres 17, B. Hardy 16, H. King 15.

2^nd Semi – Penguin 76 d Burnie 63

Best Players – Penguin: F. Eaton, T. Kelly, R. Cook. Burnie: K. Paul, E. Smith, Taz Armstrong.

Scorers – Penguin: T. Kelly 27, F. Eaton 26, R. Cook 11. Burnie: E. Smith 18. Tre Armstrong 13, K. Paul 10.