ACHILLES Gulic knocked down a clutch game-sealing basket to lead his Knox Raiders to the Grand Final of the VJBL Under-18 Boys VC Championship after defeating the Kilsyth Cobras by four points in the prelim.

The Raiders went through the VC Championship portion of the fixture unbeaten from nine games, but were stunned by the Eltham Wildcats in the qualifying final and were forced to take the long route to the preliminary final, defeating Rangers in the semis to set up a top-two clash against the Cobras.

In a game that went right down to the wire, the Raiders were able to hold on for a four-point triumph to set up a berth in the big dance against the Sunbury Jets on Saturday night.

Kilsyth Cobras (57) def. by Knox Raiders (61)

Friday night’s game at Nunawading Basketball Centre saw the Cobras start with a bang, opening the contest with a 9-2 run to put the Raiders on the back foot. Both sides struggled to make their mark from behind the arc, so inside scoring was the preferred method, and the Raiders were able to work their way back into the game and cut the margin back down to just two points at the first change.

The second quarter saw a tremendous turnaround from Knox, with the Cobras unable to return to their level of offensive production from the first quarter, and they lost control of the match as a result. The Raiders were simply flying on the offensive end, and broke the game open over the span of about five minutes to lead by seven points at the main break.

It was the perfect start from Kilsyth coming out of half time, with the Cobras cutting the deficit to just one point in a matter of minutes to open the third frame with some excellent work driving into the paint and finishing at the rim. A late 4-0 run to Kilsyth saw the Raiders’ lead cut down to just two points at the final change, setting up a blockbuster finish.

Knox owned the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, pushing the margin back out to seven points, but the Cobras fought back bravely to keep their season alive in the closing stages, even taking the lead on the back of a Riley Ikstrums basket. However, Knox finished the game on a 6-0 run, headlined by Gulic’s turnaround elbow jumper that put the Raiders up by a match-winning four points in the most clutch basket of his career and a fitting end to the match.

As he has done so many times throughout the season, Jarvis Neal led the way for the Raiders, finishing with 14 points in another excellent offensive performance from the Knox star, while Gulic stepped up down the stretch to pour in 10 points, and the same can be said for Luke Atacador, who had 10 points of his own in the win.

Oscar Hipfel was the leading scorer for the Cobras despite the loss, dropping 13 points against the Raiders, while Zane Miller was not far behind with 12 points, and Ikestrums rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points.

The other match to take place on Friday night saw the Sunbury Jets continue their strong run of form throughout the finals, upsetting the Eltham Wildcats in the preliminary final to claim a 22-point win and set up a blockbuster decider this weekend.