A DETERMINED Young Lady Braves will enter a Big V elimination final showdown against Sandringham Sabres as one of the form sides of the competition.
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The Lady Braves have won four of their past five games to clinch fourth spot in the Watson conference, and qualify themselves for a cut-throat final against the Sabres, who finished atop the rival Terrill conference.
But those ladder rankings will count for nothing on Saturday afternoon.
The Sabres defeated the Lady Braves 77-68 in their only other encounter this season in April.
But coach Megan Moody was confident her side could match it with their highly-ranked opponents following a string of impressive late season wins.
"They are coached by a very good coach in Jo Myers, and are a similar team and run a similar structure to what we run," she said.
"They like a fast-paced game, they get up and down the court.
"They have a whole stream of players averaging double figures, so it's really going to take a big effort from us to try and lock them down and give us the best chance of getting the W."
The Lady Braves have been dealt a blow with the loss of star guard Jess Rennie, due to SEABL commitments.
They will however be able to call on a quartet of her SEABL teammates in Madi Sexton, Ahlise Hurst, Hayley Harrington and skipper Alex Strawhorn, who have all split time this season between both Lady Braves teams.
Sexton was the star of the Lady Braves' 95-66 win over Ballarat Rush last weekend and is averaging 12.47 points and 8.13 rebounds on the season.
The guard-forward was at her brilliant best last time against the Sabres, scoring 23 points and gathering nine rebounds.
Hurst, who scored 10 points against the Rush, leads the Lady Braves in scoring (16.07ppg) this season, but did not play in the earlier season game against Sandringham.
The Lady Braves will also be counting on strong contributions from Harrington (9.4ppg and 7.65 rpg this season) and guard Danielle O'Toole (7.65ppg and 3.55rpg).
It's really going to take a big effort from us to try and lock them down and give us the best chance of getting the W.
- Megan Moody
For the Sabres, Melissa Prior shapes as the spoiler after scoring 23 points against the Lady Braves last time and averaging 14.7 points and 6.86 rebounds on the season.
Strawhorn, who averaged 16 points and eight rebounds in two games last weekend, said she was confident of a bold showing from the Lady Braves.
"We have been training hard this week and all year .... if we play hard together and work well on defence, we can get the win," she said.
"We've had our ups and downs and some close losses, but I think that is all behind us now we are in the playoffs."
