By JULIE ASH
For the fifth successive year, the national league final will be an all-southern affair when the Southern Sting square off against the Canterbury Flames in Invercargill on Saturday night.
The Flames won their place in the final after edging North Harbour's Force 44-43 in the first of the
semifinals on Friday night. In Invercargill yesterday, the Sting beat Wellington's Capital Shakers 68-49.
After a fairly inconsistent season, the Shakers lifted the tempo yesterday and led the Sting 18-12 after the first quarter.
Despite suffering from the flu, Shakers' goal shoot Irene van Dyk put in a lot of extra work and was determined not to get trapped under the goal with Sting defenders Bernice Mene and Megan Hutton.
Van Dyk's efforts paid off, freeing up space and allowing her shooting partner Jodi Te Huna to put in one of her best performances of the season.
But the Shakers' promising start turned to custard in the second quarter as the classy Southland side ousted them 19-8 to take a 31-26 halftime lead.
The Shakers fought back to within three early in the third quarter but had no answer for the experienced Sting side, who went into the last quarter with a 46-39 advantage.
Mene and Jo Tapper were inspirational on defence.
At the other end of the court, the ability of Donna Loffhagen and Tania Dalton to sneak out from behind their defence at the last moment made feeding the ball easy for Sting midcourt players Adine Harper and Kate Newson.
Van Dyk came close to achieving a perfect shooting record.
With just six minutes to play, she had nailed 33 without a miss, but an optimistic shot where she ran past the goal and then tried to flip it backwards ended her perfect run.
The Sting have beaten the Canterbury side in the last two finals and Flames co-captain Belinda Colling said downing the three-time champions would require a full team effort.
"This season has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for us," she said.
"But we have found some form in the last few games, so hopefully we can move up another step against the Sting."
Sting captain Bernice Mene said she expected a bruising encounter.
"They are really reaching their peak and so are we," she said.
"But it will be a totally different game from today."
