The time has finally come.
After a gruelling four-month home-and-away season, finals action will descend on the Country Basketball League North East Men’s Division on Saturday night, and the Benalla Breakers are primed to contend for glory.
Finishing with an impressive 10-4 record, the Breakers finished in second spot behind a rampant Seymour Blasters 14-0 outfit, seeing them enter the finals series in the exact same position as 12 months ago.
Now a monumental battle awaits the Benalla boys, as they host the third-placed Myrtleford Saints in a tantalising semi-final, with a spot in the decider for a second-straight season on the line.
Set to come into this clash well-rested after enjoying the bye in round 16, Breakers coach Wally Armstrong said his team was champing at the bit to hit the floor for some finals hoops.
“We can’t wait for Saturday night, we’ve worked pretty hard for a long time to get to this point and now is where it counts,” Armstrong said.
“We improved our side from last season, adding a big a couple of guards and some youth, and as a result we have played some more consistent basketball, so hopefully our good form translates onto the finals stage.”
The beginning of the Breakers finals quest will see them take on a red-hot Myrtleford outfit fresh off winning its past six matches.
Having split the season series with the Saints at 1-1, Armstrong said he expected another tough battle this Saturday night.
“It will be a hard game, semi-finals are always tough games and coming up against Myrtleford it is always a tough battle against them,” he said.
“They have probably had the better of us over the years, but over recent years we have pegged it back a bit and hopefully on Saturday night we can peg it back a little further.”
He also went on to explain what he felt the keys to the match would be.
“Shutting down their shooters is going to be critical, they have three really good shooters who are probably in the top 10 scorers of the competition, and then they have a quality big as well,” Armstrong said.
“So the focus will definitely be on our defence, if we can get that going well then the rest will hopefully follow suit.”
The Breakers will have an ace up their sleeve this weekend in the form of a raucous home crowd.
Armstrong implored as many Benalla locals as possible to get down and support their team in this do-or-die semi-final.
“We probably bring in one of the best crowds in the league and we really feed off that energy they provide,” he said.
“So we’d love everyone to come down and support us on Saturday night and hopefully we can make them proud and punch our ticket into the grand final.”
Benalla Breakers will host Myrtleford Saints in the Country Basketball League North East Men’s Division semi-final at Benalla Indoor Recreation Centre with tip-off at 8pm.