South-west teams to head north for deciders

The Katie O'Keefe-coached Mermaids booked their place courtesy of a nine-point triumph over Horsham Hornets on Saturday night while Portland Coasters defeated Warrnambool Seahawks on Sunday to advance to the men's decider.

The Coasters' women will also play in the grand final.

All teams - packed with youth - will travel north to Horsham for the match.

Portland coach Rebel Noter said he was delighted to see both Coasters teams reach their finals.

"There'll be a big contingent heading up the road I think," he said.

"They have a junior tournament on as well so I think spacing is going to be hard. It'll be tough to get a seat."

Noter said Portland showed maturity in their semi-final performance.

"It was well contested right through the game, even though we had a good lead at half-time," he said.

"We always knew Warrnambool were going to come back and they did. We like to play the game right out because if you get too much of a lead you can get a bit complacent.

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"It was pleasing to see the boys play it right out until the end, both sides that is, and we were just lucky enough to get it in the end."

He said Portland would be hard-pressed to find a training court with all basketball back in the city this week.

"We might have to go early on Tuesday and a Friday or something," Noter laughed.

"We'll figure all that out in the next couple of days."

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