After a hard-fought battle against the Sydney Comets on July 20, the Central Coast Crusaders women have won themselves a trip to the semi-final against longtime rival Manly.
The Crusaders hosted the Comets in the elimination final at Breakers Indoor Stadium in what turned out to be one for the books.
Both teams came out of the gate ready and firing with the Crusaders managing to pull away just a little at the end of the first quarter, no doubt thanks to the homecourt advantage.
Shyla Heal kept the Comets alive on numerous occasions, refusing to back down and finishing the came with 36 points and a monster stat line.
The game seemed all but over before the Comets managed to pull a few back getting to within three at one point before a cool and collected Leilani Mitchell dropped an ‘and one’ to give the Crusaders some breathing room.
Young star Sara Matthews put in the final dagger, stealing the ball at half court and scoring the fastbreak layup to give the Crusaders an 80-74 win.
The Crusaders will travel to the Northern Beaches Indoor Sports Stadium this Sunday, July 28, to take on the Manly Sea Eagles in the semi.
The women have gone down in both games to the Sea Eagles this season with their most reason matchup just a few weeks ago.
With that said the home team will have their usual starting lineup for the first time against the Sea Eagles this season and that includes the big three of Jasmine Forcadilla, Leilani Mitchell and Mikaela Dombkins.
In the Youth League, the Waratah Youth Crusaders played a back-to-back with the men getting the win over the Storm down in Blacktown and the women getting it done in Hornsby against the Spiders.
Both teams made their way back home on Sunday to host the Falcons with each recording a comfortable win for the home crowd.
As the Youth League season comes to a close, the Youth Men sit in fourth place after their performance on the weekend and with just two rounds left the next few wins are crucial.
The Crusaders Youth Men host the Bankstown Bruins this Saturday, July 27, with tip off at 1pm.
The Crusaders Youth Women reclaim their place at the top of the ladder after their back-to-back wins over the weekend and have also managed to lock in their spot in the playoffs regardless of how the last two rounds play out.
They also host the Bruins on Saturday, July 27; their match starts at 3pm as they look to hold the top spot to close out the season.
Stefan Kataric