The Milestone Homes Northland Suns are just one step away from completing a rags to riches story in the Intercity Basketball League after a sensational win over the Harbour Heat.
The Suns beat North Harbour 87-83 in the semifinal on Saturday to reach the grand final and complete an amazing transformation in their fortunes.
In their first season in the league in 2010, they finished dead last. Last year they won their final game of the season to finish second bottom and now this year just Waitakere stand between them and the title.
Waitakere will be anything but easy in this weekend's final but now the team are rejoicing in their success so far- after exceeding the cub's wildest dreams at the beginning of the season.
The contribution of BJ Anthony, Raymond Cameron and Travis McIlroy continued to be a big part of their success.
Anthony top-scored with 34 points including eight assists, 10 defensive and five offensive rebounds. McIlroy scored 24 points and helped contain star Harbour guard Marco Alexander, while Cameron was everywhere, inspiring the team not only with his outside shooting but also his leadership.
Niasi Malua and Warrick Siddle also made significant contributions and proved to be the difference in the final stretch of a nail-biting fourth quarter.
The Suns jumped out to an early lead in the match and scored 38 points in the opening quarter but after trailing by 20, Harbour regrouped and began to edge their way back into the match to be behind 41-55 at halftime. They continued to narrow the gap and the game got very heated at times with pushing and shoving and verbal sparring earning technical fouls.
Both teams struggled to keep their composure under pressure and with just under two minutes remaining, the Suns went behind by one point after leading for most of the game.
Siddle hit a jumpshot to put the Suns ahead for good and Malua nailed late free-throws to seal the historic victory.
McIlroy said they weren't physical enough in the second half and lacked intensity against Harbour, allowing them to creep back into the game.
"We were all over them to start with and built up a crazy lead and then there was a real momentum swing and we had to dig deep in the end and we were pretty lucky to get the win."
He said the contribution of Anthony and Cameron was immense but everyone had contributed, including veteran Carmen Hetaraka, whose game time may have been brief but who provided invaluable leadership when the game got tight.
The win sees the Suns continue to spearhead the success of basketball in Northland. Sun's publicity officer Edwin Popham said that the team were drowned out by the Harbour fans at the game and he hoped that more Northland supporters would make the journey down to support the team in the final at AUT's North Shore campus on Saturday.