Basketball for the second half of the year has reached the business end of the competitions with the semi finals for all grades to be played on Tuesday afternoon/night and the finals set down for the following week.

The semi final format for division two is 1 v 4 and 2 v 3 with the winners advancing to the big dance and the defeated teams being eliminated to begin their assault on the Christmas/New Year festivities.  

Women’s first division is a little different with MRD Electrical heading straight to the final on 11 December with Sunne Printing and Coastal First Aid to play in the semi final on Tuesday night for the right to challenge MRD Electrical for the major trophies. 

Game timing changes for the finals series with the main difference being the stopping of the clock for timeouts, injured and fouled out players and all whistles in the last three minutes of the fourth quarter and all teams involved, including those who have bench duty, should note the changes to avoid any confusion.

When Sunne Printing and Coastal First Aid take the court for the division one semi final it will be a repeat of the decider from the competition played in the first half of the year which saw a boil over when Coastal First Aid claimed victory by single point 23 to 22. Sunne Printing have played the better basketball throughout the second half of the year and will start favourites to move into the final but Coastal First Aid have proved in the past that they lift when the finals series comes around and Sunne Printing will need to play well to put them away.

The placings in the second division competition were not decided until the completion of the round games played earlier this week and Howard Funerals failed to make the cut following their inability to shut down Sarah Macaitis from The Great Lakers. The Great Lakers took the game 46 to 22 and Sarah proved once again she is one of the premier players in the division with a game high 26 points.

The Great Lakers now have the competition front runners, Bushranger Honey in their sights but they will find this challenge a big one as they have been unable to trouble their opponents in their previous clashes since the competition fired up in July but semi finals can and do produce strange results and this game is likely to be a hard fought affair.

The other semi final sees a repeat of a game played earlier this week when Hey You and Tinonee Termites front up again to battle for a finals berth.

Hey You claimed the win in the last round 32 to 22 but it must be said Tinonee Termites were under strength and that is unlikely to be the case again in the semi final on Tuesday night. If both teams can get full rosters in attendance on the night, this game is likely to produce close and exciting basketball all the way to the final siren.

High school basketball is also at the semi final stage with the front runners in the U15 and U17 age divisions looking to be the teams to beat to claim the major trophies.

Celtics have been the benchmark in the U15 age group and their opponents will need to find a way to shut down Jordan Woodward and Lachlan Burnes and at the same time make sure Myles Mitchell-Deak, Jack Boyd and Nick Mann don’t get too many open looks as they are all capable of making major contributions. 

The Tornadoes, with Shaylee Gauldron and Troy Knutson in good consistent form, head the U17 pack closely followed by Hotshots with Jared Thompson and Connor Thorp leading the charge and both these teams should record victories in their respective semi finals to set up a very interesting battle in next weeks competition decider.

Basketball talent development squads have been named by the Hunter Academy of Sport for their 2013 program and the big news is four boys from the Manning Valley have been chosen to take their place along side players from Newcastle, Cessnock and Maitland.

Congratulations are extended Jaland Small, Jared Thompson, Connor Thorp and Jordan Woodward on their selection and these boys, who are Taree Tornadoes junior representatives, now travel to Newcastle on Saturday 08 December for the orientation meeting and first training session.

Saxby’s Stadium is the home of Taree Basketball, and details about junior, women’s or men’s basketball may be obtained on the telephone at (02) 6551 7456, by email tareebasketball@hotmail.com or on the net at www.taree.basketball.net.au