Roller Hawks captain Brett Stibners says the race to the NWBL championship is wide open with all four finalists a chance to win the crown.
Wollongong finished the regular season with three big wins over the Sydney Metro Blues while the top two teams, Kilsyth and Perth split their two matches against one another on the weekend.
The result means Kilsyth finish Minor Premiers and will resume hostilities with Perth in the opening game of the finals series while third placed Wollongong meet the fourth placed Red Dust Heelers.
“It will be a tough matchup (against Red Dust),” said Stibners. “It’s going to be a very interesting finals series, any team could win it.”
Wollongong were extremely dominant against the Metro Blues averaging 100 points per game and winning by an average margin of 53.7 points.
The entire Roller Hawks roster saw court time over the weekend with Wollongong coach Jim Williams praising the attitude his side played with throughout the three games.
“It was a great hit out for all players leading into the finals. Everyone played with intensity and with excellent team defence and offence,” said Williams.
“Assists went up each game and Sticky (Stibners) was close to a triple double each game.”
Stibners averaged 33.7 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists per game but was quick to echo the thoughts of his coach and pay tribute to the overall team effort.
“We did really well on the weekend. Not because we won all three games but because we were able to maintain a level of intensity when it would have been easy to turn up and win,” said Stibners.
“Our ball movement was outstanding which we will need come finals time.”
Luke Pople averaged 15 points and 9.3 assists per game while Michael Auprince dominated inside averaging 23.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.
The Roller Hawks got great value from their low pointers with Sam White continuing to make valuable contributions to his new team with Hannah Dodd, Darren Hayes, Tim Markcrow, Nick Scott and Ashley Kennedy all making solid contributions off the bench.
Brad Fisher scored a season high 12 points on 4 of 5 shooting in the final game on Sunday while Andrew Tarrant ensured Wollongong maintained their advantage inside when Auprince was off the court.
The Finals Series will take place on the weekend of 24-26 June at Minto Indoor Sports Centre.
FINAL SERIES
Friday June 24:
GAME 1: KILSYTH COBRAS (1) vs PERTH WHEELCATS (2) - 6pm @ Minto Indoor Sports Stadium
GAME 2: ROLLER HAWKS (3) vs RED DUST HEELERS (4) - 8pm @ Minto Indoor Sports Stadium
Saturday June 25:
GAME 3: Loser Game 1 vs Winner Game 2 - 6:00pm @ Minto Indoor Sports Stadium
Sunday June 26:
GAME 4: Loser Game 2 vs Loser Game 3 - 11am @ Minto Indoor Sports Stadium
GAME 5 (Grand Final): Winner Game 1 vs Winner Game 3 - 1pm @ Minto Indoor Sports Stadium