By Dion Stergiopoulos
After a gruelling pre-season, several months of intense training and 14 rounds of fierce competition, it was time for post season basketball action of the Basketball NSW Waratah Metro Junior League.
The St George Saints U14 Boys Red team finished the regular season with a dominant 12-2 record earning them top spot on the ladder in Division 2.
The Saints capped off their superb regular season with three players finishing amongst the top ten scoring leaders: (Ben Savann, 4th, Alex Shen, 5th and Aethan Manuel, 6th).
Last Sunday, the Saints travelled to Barker College to face off against Blacktown Storm in their semi final matchup, one of only two teams to beat them during the regular season.
While the Saints had more talent on paper, the Storm presented some difficult matchups for St George.
The Saints knew they were in for a tight battle especially with two key rotation forwards unavailable.
Both teams came out firing, trading baskets early in a tightly contested first half, with the Saints taking a slim five-point lead into the main break (30-25).
After a much-needed halftime rest, the Saints surged ahead with a strong third-quarter performance, building a twelve-point lead and ending the quarter up by nine points heading into the final period (50-41).
However, Blacktown are known for their comebacks, erasing a fifteen-point deficit to beat the Saints back in round ten and nearly pulled it off again, with the Storm regaining the lead with just minutes to play.
The Saints showed incredible resilience, keeping their composure, ramping up the intensity and getting key stops at crucial stages.
Team captain Aethan Manuel hit a clutch basket in the final moments to regain the lead for the Saints and St George followed that up with another crucial defensive possession.
Desperate to stay in the game, Blacktown were forced to foul in hopes of making a comeback.
Ben Savann split his two free-throws giving the Saints a two-point lead.
After some minor controversy over a missed timeout by Blacktown, the Saints came up clutch with one final defensive stop to secure the 64-62 victory, and booking their place in the Grand Final.
Alex Shen led the scoring for the Saints with 26 points, with Zach Sourry (14 points) and Ben Savann (11 points) helping St George secure the victory.
The Saints look ahead to this weekends Grand Final against second seed Sydney Comets as they aim to cap off their fantastic season with a championship.
Elsewhere, the St George Saints U16 Boys Grey team travelled to Penrith to face off against fourth placed West Sydney Wolves in their Semi-Final matchup last Sunday.
The Saints finished the regular season with a league best 9-3 record earning themselves top spot in Division 5.
St George came out ready to play and applied immense pressure on the Wolves early, despite their hot three-point shooting.
Winning finals matches is the majority of the time about heart as it is about talent, with the Saints showing plenty of composure and resilience as they dug deep during the fourth quarter to secure the 53-49 victory and booking their place in this Sundays Grand Final.
