THE finals have arrived in the Victorian Junior Basketball League (VJBL) Under 18 Girls competition, which means for some sides, it is the chance to advance straight through to the preliminary finals, while other teams will be fighting to keep their season alive.

That is certainly the case in the elimination final clash between the Frankston Blues and the Dandenong Rangers at State Basketball Centre on Friday night. Both sides finished outside the top four, and now have no second chances from this point on. A victory would see the winner take on the loser of a qualifying final, while it will be campaign over for the losing club, so the stakes are through the roof.

Frankston Blues vs. Dandenong Rangers
Friday, August 26 @ 8:20pm
State Basketball Centre

The Blues were unable to sneak into the top four, missing out by the smallest of margins, but still managed to secure fifth spot, thanks to a strong second half of the season. In the VC Championship division, they lost just three of their nine outings, and had one of the best records in this time. Of the elimination final teams, the Blues are looking the strongest.

Coming up against the Rangers, Frankston will be the favoured side, but there are no chances for an off night when placed outside the top four, so their fast-paced style of play must be brought at full energy tomorrow night.

These two sides played in the final round of the season, and the Blues were 10 points too good for Dandenong, so that will be encouraging for Frankston coming into this game. In that contest, Bonnie Deas was the star of the show again, and will be a focal point of the team’s offence against Dandenong on Friday.

The Rangers have not been as successful throughout the 2022 season, finishing the year in eighth spot, but will get the chance to pull off the fairytale finish to their campaign in the coming weeks. They have been decent in the VC Championship division, winning four and losing five from nine outings, which was enough to sneak into the postseason, where they face an uphill battle.

However, they got close to the Blues when the two sides locked horns last week, and will have taken a lot out of that game, so an upset could be brewing here. One shining light from that outing was the balanced scoring from Catelyn Van Es, Manuela Puoch and Georgia Taylor, all of whom scored 12 points. If their defensive work can be taken up a notch, it might just be game on.