The two time defending champion Wellington Saints are heading to the grand final for the fifth-straight year after defeating the Hawke's Bay Hawks 99-73 at TSB Bank Arena.
Saints guard, LJ Peak was in super form, scoring from all parts of the court with a game-high 31 points on the night.
The Hawks were unable to contain Peak who had two highlight plays, one a put back dunk in the first quarter and a breakaway 360 degree two handed slam in the second half.
Former Finals MVP, Leon Henry, again proved to be invaluable with 20 points which included 4/6 from three, and although he didn’t have a strong shooting night, Shea Ili, tallied 18 points, nine assists, six rebounds and four assists.
The Hawks made a good start to the game when they got seven quick points from Dion Prewster to help them go up 10-7 halfway through the quarter. But four points from Peak, a three from Henry and a dunk by Majok Majok would put the Saints up 22-14 by quarter time.
Unfortunately, things did not go well for the Hawks in the second quarter when Angus Brandt picked up his second foul, and then back to back fouls from Jarrod Kenny which put him on three. Head Coach, Zico Coronel, was forced to sub both.
Coronel would put Brandt back into the game and was gaining ascendancy down in the block, but after multiple scuffles from veteran forward Damien Ekenasio, Brandt would suffer his third foul. Wellington was not quite able to take advantage of this as the Hawks did stay within eight at halftime.
After the break the troubles would continue for Brandt who would get caught up under the basket with Henry and would get called for his fourth foul. The Hawks did close within five thanks to a corner three from Ethan Rusbatch, but a 9-2 run from Wellington would give them a 12 point lead.
The floodgates would open up in the fourth quarter as the Saints would put up 37 points turning an 11 point lead to 26.
Brandt would end the game with 16 points, Dion Prewster would have 14, and Kenny added 13 for the Hawks who have come a long way since a couple of seasons ago when they went 0-18.
Wellington will now move on to the final in the hopes of getting the three-peat which the 10-time winning champions have never achieved.
They will play the Southland Sharks in a rematch of last season, after they beat the Nelson Giants in the second semi-final.
Southlands held the lead for the majority of the game, and were up 11 points with less than four minutes to play.
But Nelson showed grit in the final stanza, and were led by none other than Mika Vukona who was a huge part of Giants run which saw them get to within three with 1:27 left.
Alex Pledger would be fouled and make both free throws to put the Sharks back up five. Finn Delany would make a quick two to close to within three, and with 37 seconds left they were able to force a Sharks turnover to set up a thrilling finale.
But the Giants failed to execute out of the timeout when they would attempt a risky cross court inbound which led to the ball going out of bounds. Nelson would be forced to foul Raukawa who would slot both to seal the win.
It was a big game for Raukawa, who had to start in place of point guard Jarrad Weeks who did not place due to a hamstring injury. The kiwi guard would have 16 points.
Southland got off to a quick start thanks to Canadian forward, Conor Morgan, who was big tonight with 25 points, 16 rebounds and five steals. Southland held a three point lead at quarter time, and extended it to eight thanks to back to back buckets from Morgan.
The second quarter would be physical both teams fighting to secure the boards, tempers would quickly flare up between both teams after a tussle between Morgan and Delany led to a mini rumble between the teams which spilt out of bounds.
The Giants managed to close to within four at halftime thanks to Damon Heuir and Finn Delany who had to carry the offense after both Kyle Adnam and Tohi Smith-Milner were restricted to the bench for most of the period due to foul trouble. Delany would end the half with 19 points and Heuir with 14.
Nelson would get their first lead in the third quarter, but the Sharks went on a 13-2 run to go back up 10. Again, Nelson would make a run to close within two and only trailed by five going into the fourth.
But the Giants were just unable to pip the Sharks who are going to the finals for the fourth time winning titles in 2013 and 2015.
Southland will have confidence they can defeat the Saints in Wellington as they did beat them there 72-68 win the 2015 final.
Newshub.
