THE Cockburn Cougars and Joondalup Wolves were the top two Men's SBL teams all season and now are just one win away from the Grand Final with the ball in the court of the Geraldton Buccaneers and Willetton Tigers to throw a spanner in the works.

The Cougars and Wolves finished first and second after the regular season and then won Game 1 of their semi-final match ups last Saturday night meaning they need just the one win this weekend to book a place in next Saturday night's Grand Final for 2016.

The Game 2 action begins on Friday night with the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers playing the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

A win for the Tigers and Game 3 will take place on Saturday night at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.

Game 2 between the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars and S&K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers then will be played on Saturday night at Wally Hagan Stadium. A win for the Buccs and Game 3 will be back at the same venue on Sunday.

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Game 1 between Joondalup and Willetton last Saturday night was a tremendous contest but in the end the defending champion Wolves proved too strong winning 122-103.

That was the 28th straight win on their home floor for the Wolfpack as they moved one step closer to trying to win back-to-back championships for the first time in club history.

But the Tigers have had an outstanding season to qualify in third position and then beat the Stirling Senators in two games in the quarter finals.

They did a lot of things right in Game 1 but were outrebounded 52-29 and sent the Wolves to the line 46 times. But Damien Scott was outstanding with 33 points while Kyle Armour had 19, Charles Funches 17 and Jay Bowie 16.

Tigers coach Steve Black is confident that with some better defence and rebounding the result can be turned around on their home floor so they earn another crack at the Wolves at Joondalup.

"Hopefully we can just keep that energy to defend and rebound a little better," Black said.

"Offensively I think that we can keep moving the ball and get it through really good offensive players' hands then we should be OK to score enough to win. But we need to keep them to a much lower score if we expect to win the next one."

Wolves coach Ben Ettridge was pleased with the efforts of his team last week particularly Kevin Davis, Rob Huntington and Damian Matacz to outrebound the Tigers on their own.

Then Reece Maxwell delivered 23 points, Seb Salinas 19 and last year's Grand Final MVP Trian Iliadis 27 to set up the Game 1 win.

Ettridge knows winning at Willetton is no easy task, though, and he saw that this season when the Wolves gave up a 15-point lead to lose by 15 in a spirited and heated Friday night contest.

"The court's actually bigger. Ours is the smallest dimension court in the state so we go and play on a bigger court which might take away their press a little," Ettridge said.

"But playing at home is a big advantage and they will have their 500 people screaming for them, and we have to go into the Tigers' den and get the win.

"It will take our best game to get it done and we are looking forward to the challenge. We've got to beat everyone on their home floor to get to where we want to get to."

The Cougars and Buccaneers also played a tremendous Game 1 at Active West Stadium last Saturday, but it was Cockburn who prevailed on the road 100-96 in a tremendous performance.

That sets a big task for the Buccs to win twice at Wally Hagan Stadium in less than 18 hours, but if any team is capable of pulling that off it would be the Aaron Trahair-coached Geraldton.

The Buccaneers have veterans Mat Wundenberg, Carter Cook, Aaron Ralph and Luke Wrensted desperate to not give up on their championship dream after the 2014 Grand Final while Matthew Adekponya, Jackson Hussey and Maurice Barrow are capable of anything.

Cougars veteran Sheldon McIntyre has no doubt that a Game 3 could favour the Buccs on Sunday given they are used to playing double-headers on a regular basis, but the 2012 championship winner is hoping it doesn’t come to that.

"Obviously it was a massive win and a lot of people didn’t think we would win there with how strong Geraldton has been at home all year so it was a massive performance," McIntyre said.

"But now Saturday night's game is huge for us because Geraldton travels every couple of weeks and they are experienced in playing double-headers so they would like their chances if they got up on Saturday night to back it up and do it again on Sunday.

"The important thing for us is to stick to what worked. We did a really good job of slowing down their transition for most of the game which is a key thing for them, and we have to keep contesting shots and not giving up easy ones. We did a good job of that and we made them work hard for their points so if we can do that again we give ourselves every opportunity to take it out."

Another Cockburn veteran Dan Thomas knows the Buccs well and has fond memories of his time with them, but that only made winning Game 1 last Saturday night all the more memorable. The point guard now hopes the Cougars can deliver something similar on their home floor.

"We have to replicate what we did up there in the sense of intensity. They are going to have a big contingent down here with their crowd and they always do. We need to shut them down again and it's all based around defence," Thomas said.

"To hold a team like that with so many weapons to 96 points has been a focus for us throughout training and it's going to be a focus again this weekend. Defence is going to be everything."

While the Geraldton crowd was tremendous last Saturday night, the Cougars have got a big boost from their home fans this year and that has stemmed from the energy of the players on the bench.

"Our crowd has been phenomenal all year and we are going to try to get all the boxes filled up, and the girls team will be here again being as loud as anything," Thomas said.

"And our guys on the bench, even the last few weeks when I've started there, have been amazing with the role they play and the stuff they do to support the team.

"You've got guys like Mat Mandic who get up every time something happens and it's great to see. When you hit a shot and come back down and see your whole bench standing up fist pumping, it's great to see that camaraderie."

MEN'S SEMI-FINAL GAME 2 SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers v Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves, Willetton Basketball Stadium 8.30pm

SATURDAY
Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars v S&K Electrical Cockburn Cougars, Wally Hagan Stadium 7.30pm

MEN'S SEMI-FINAL GAME 3 SBL FIXTURES (if required)
SATURDAY
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves v Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers, Joondalup Basketball Stadium 8pm

SUNDAY
Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars v S&K Electrical Cockburn Cougars, Wally Hagan Stadium 12pm

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene-Elise Photography