Saints 66 Sharks 81
Semifinal 1, Napier
With all the wind and rain in Hawke's Bay for the past week, the Wellington Saints should have felt at home tonight.
The minor premiership champions were anything but that as the Southland Sharks booked their berth in the NBL grand final tomorrow with an 81-66 victory at the PG Arena, Napier.
It looked like homeboy and Sharks coach Paul Henare never left his turf although Southland's orange ensemble was a give away. But it wasn't exactly a stress-free night for him as his Southerners sporadically became gung-ho to give Wellington a sniff in the third quarter.
The Saints were often guilty of committing unforced errors, falling foul of travelling violations and, damningly, their general, Lindsay Tait, found little love from the rim.
With four minutes to go, they trailed by 17 points and no one seemed to want to take ownership from outside the arc.
Conversely, the Sharks showed more hunger from the word go, finding so much time for look-ins at the rim that they should expect a call from Napier mayor Barbara Arnott for a TV tourism promotion op here.
The night definitely belonged to Southland forward Leon Henry, claiming a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds, of which 10 were defensive.
Import biggie Brian Cronklin chimed in with as many points but was one rebound shy of a double-double.
Their small men were equally adept, Reuben Te Rangi contributing 15 points and claiming seven off the boards.
For the Saints, guard Corey Webster top scored with 19 points and eight rebounds while forward Casey Frank managed 18 points and nine off the board.
That import Rick Rickert added only 12 points and claimed seven rebounds was a testimony to tight marking from Southland, with ex-New Zealand Breaker Kevin Braswell aptly marshalling the troops.
Effectively, Final Four playoffs night isn't showtime opportunity for those with slick hairdos and tattoos. Making lay ups, some players looked guilty of trying to look too pretty for the Sky TV cameras.
Wellington often looked like sleep walking but whatever coach Pero Cameron said in the locker room at halftime worked as they as responded in the next quarter, reducing the deficit to four points as Frank and Webster cranked it up.
A couple of "And ones" later, the Sharks were back into 10-point leads, the second time to the tune of a dunk from Cronklin.
The Saints tried to play catch-up basketball but, like championship material do, Southland lifted their game another few notches to leave Wellington high and dry.
Statistics (Saints 1st):
1st quarter: 19-24. 2nd: 44-33 (20-14). 3rd: 58-50 (14-27). Final: 81-66 (23-16).