FOR the fourth time in five years the Bendigo Braves have qualified for the SEABL south conference grand final.
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The Braves defeated the North West Tasmania Thunder 83-73 in Saturday night’s preliminary final at Bendigo Stadium to earn another trip to Mt Gambier to face the Pioneers in Friday night’s grand final.
“I’m extremely proud of the group,’’ Braves coach Ben Harvey said.
“We get another crack at Mt Gambier… I really can’t see us losing to them four times in one year.
“No one will give us a chance of beating Mt Gambier, but internally we’re confident we can do it.”
With two-and-a-half minutes remaining in the preliminary final it appeared the Braves were going to falter down the stretch for the second-straight week.
After being blown away by Mt Gambier in the final quarter of the second semi-final, the Braves went from nine points up with six minutes remaining to two points behind with 2.38 on the clock.
It had all the hallmarks of a sporting choke, but to the Braves credit they dug deep in the face of adversity.
After having all sorts of trouble with his three-point shooting in the previous six weeks, Braves import Tony Lewis nailed arguably the biggest shot of the season to stop the Thunder’s momentum.
Lewis’ three-point bomb sparked the crowd and his team-mates.
A Thunder turnover was followed by a Jordan Vandenberg alley-oop and when Lewis made consecutive buckets – the second another three-pointer – the Braves had unleashed a 10-0 run in 90 seconds to grab an eight-point lead.
A blocked shot from Vandenberg was followed by a Vigor bucket and the Braves hit celebration mode.
“We’ve never stopped believing in ourselves,’’ Harvey said.
“We got some good stops in the final couple of minutes and then got some good looks at the other end.
“Tony (Lewis) hit a couple of big shots for us… Jordan Vandenberg was very important for us down the stretch. Kevin Probert was outstanding all night, Josh Wilcher hit some big shots and Taylor Bell’s defence was great.
“Everyone contributed to the win and that’s the strength of this team.”
After struggling offensively against Mt Gambier the previous week, Lewis bounced back in style, scoring 26 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Michael Vigor was solid with 16 points and four rebounds, while Grant Johnson and Josh Wilcher had 11 points each.
Probert played 34 minutes for 11 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Friday night’s grand final starts at 8.30pm in Mt Gambier.
The winner of that game advances to the big dance – the SEABL championship game in Melbourne on September 12 against the east conference champion.
Albury hosts Geelong in the east conference final this Saturday night.
Meanwhile, the Bendigo Lady Braves will host the Kilsyth Lady Cobras in this Saturday night’s women’s south conference grand final.
The Lady Cobras qualified for the conference final after defeating Launceston 75-62 in the preliminary final.
The Lady Braves-Lady Cobras game starts at 7pm on Saturday night at Bendigo Stadium.
The women’s east conference grand final will be played between Dandenong and Geelong.