The three showpiece games for D2M, D2W and D3M take place on Saturday 26 April at the National Basketball Performance Centre in Manchester.
Get your tickets here and be part of the action.
The South dominated the NBL2 Playoffs and it’s fitting that the top two teams in the region – Barking Abbey and Team Solent Kestrels, will clash for ultimate supremacy.
A blistering second half performance lifted Barking Abbey to an 82-60 win over NASSA.
In front 40-35 at the break, the game was nicely poised in a cagey contest, before Barking Abbey moved up a gear.
Within four minutes of the third, Barking Abbey led by double figures, thanks to a basket inside by Amarlie Wilkinson and from there, they never looked back.
Wilkinson paced Barking Abbey with an all-around display of 21 points, six rebounds and seven assists, helped by 14 from Ilias Taiwo.
Zachariah Fallconi-Gollab had a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead NASSA.
Team Solent Kestrels will compete in back-to-back NBL2 Playoff finals after they defeated London Stars 110-86 on the South Coast.
After trailing by a point after the first quarter, Solent blitzed their counterparts with a 31-23 second period and never relinquished their advantage, shooting 53% from the floor.
Greg Durand led Solent with 24 points, with Russell Gariepy draining five triples for 21.
Ryan Martin led London with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
The top-seeded teams in Pool I and Pool II will meet in the WNBL2 Playoff final.
Pool I winners Milton Keynes Breakers ended Team Solent Kestrels’ dreams of reaching the final, as a 20-5 third quarter shut-out was the ultimate game-changer that led to an eventual 66-43 win.
Sarah Round hit 20 points to lead the Breakers, with Solent unable to get a player in double figures. Andrea Kurkowski and Anna Idiata Mendez both led the charge with eight apiece.
Milton Keynes will square-off against Pool II victors London All Stars in the WNBL2 finale, as they overcame Bromsgrove Bears 56-35 in their semi-final.
A closely-contested first 20 minutes was split open in the second half, as the All Stars outscored the Bears 24-13 to seal their place to Manchester.
Josephine Maignomo had 18 points for London, with Rebecca Brindley’s 17 points not enough for Bromsgrove.
Birmingham City University will meet Crawley Storm in the NBL3 Playoff final after comfortable victories over the weekend.
It was a happy 420-mile round trip for Crawley as they bested the Sheffield Sharks 83-56 at the Canon Medical Arena on Saturday.
The Storm took a narrow lead after the first half and entering the fourth period, led 53-43. From there, they stamped their authority when it mattered to ice the game and punch their ticket to Manchester.
Sean Mackey paced Crawley with a game-high 29 points, cancelling out Chris Alexander’s 16 for the Sharks.
Crawley will meet Birmingham City University in the final, the side that secured NBL3’s best record across its four pools at 17-1.
Birmingham saw-off the challenge of London Lions Foundation in the other semi-final, as 28 points from former Derby and CoB man Ronald Oberia sealed a 102-86 victory.
Barking Abbey 82-60 NASSA - LIVE STATS
Team Solent Kestrels 110-86 London Stars - LIVE STATS
Milton Keynes Breakers 66-43 Team Solent Kestrels
London All Stars 56-35 Bromsgrove Bears
Sheffield Sharks 56-83 Crawley Storm
Birmingham City University 102-86 London Lions Foundation
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Words by John Hobbs
