IT was a solid weekend of Country Basketball League (CBL) action for Seymour Blasters who collected wins in both the Men’s and Women’s semi-finals to take the next step towards premiership glory.

Seymour Blasters and Myrtleford Saints progressed through to the next stage of finals in the Men’s division after securing wins in their respective semi-finals. The Blasters got the job done comfortably against Wodonga Wolves with a 36-point drubbing (86-50), proving to be a real threat when they get going, while the Saints impressed in their outing against Benalla Breakers to just edge them out by 12 points (78-66).

Tyler Best showcased his dominance in the win for Seymour knocking back 19 points while Patrick Green also kept the scoreboard ticking over producing 15 points. Thomas O’Connor was the only other player to reach double figures for the Blasters with every single player on the roster managing to hit the scoreboard. Although they did not get the win, Jordan Teunon managed nine points with Darcy Skepper also chiming in with eight points.

The grand final battle will see the Blasters and Saints go head-to-head with the latter looking to reverse the outcome of the last time these two sides met and claim premiership glory.

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It was a much closer contest in the women’s division with the two semi-finals decided by three points each. With no love lost shown between either of the four sides it was the Wodonga Lady Wolves and Seymour Blasters that prevailed. The Wolves put an end to Wangaratta Warriors dreams (66-63) while the Blasters put a halt on Wallan’s chances of progressing any further (65-62).

The Warriors were led by dominant trio Ebony Norris, Olivia Storer and Jorja Reidy who worked gallantly to keep their side in the contest sinking 18, 17 and 14 points respectively. However their efforts where somewhat outshone by Casey Ardern who single-handily stole the show for the Wolves producing a game-high 28 points. Ardern received some help from the likes of Charlotte Beaven with 15 points and Caitlin Reid with 13 points to get their side over the line.

In the other semi-final Maddison Ford led the charge for Seymour sinking 17 points while Shona Gesler the only other player hitting the double-figure mark with 11 points. Olivia Pearce and Leah Swain also did enough to keep the Blasters afloat registering nine and eight points apiece. For the Panthers, Carley Cranston topscored with 16 points as Erin Mifsud also chimed in with 10 points but it was not enough to get them over the line and into the grand final.

Wodonga Lady Wolves and Seymour are locked in for the women’s grand final with the two last meeting all the way back in Round 1 with the win favouring Seymour who will be eager to once again claim the “W” but on a much bigger stage.