Basketball: Sharks sink Saints to make final

Leon Henry of the Southland Sharks grabbed 19 points and 13 rebounds to help his side pass the Saints. Photo/Joel Ford.

Minor premiership champions the Wellington Saints were anything but that as the Southland Sharks booked their berth in the NBL grand final tomorrow with an 81-66 victory at the PG Arena, Napier.

It looked like former Napier resident Paul Henare never left his turf but it wasn't exactly a stress-free night for him as his Southerners sporadically became gung-ho to give Wellington a sniff in the third quarter.

The Saints were often guilty of committing unforced errors, falling foul of travelling violations and, damningly, their general, Lindsay Tait, found little love from the rim.

With four minutes to go, they trailed by 17 points and no one seemed to want to take ownership from outside the arc.

Conversely, the Sharks showed more hunger from the word go.

The night belonged to Southland forward Leon Henry, claiming a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds, of which 10 were defensively.

Import Brian Cronklin chimed in with as many points but was one rebound shy of a double-double.

Their small men were equally adept, Reuben Te Rangi contributing 15 points and claiming seven off the boards.

For the Saints, guard Corey Webster top scored with 19 points and eight rebounds while forward Casey Frank managed 18 points and nine off the board.

That import Rick Rickert added only 12 points and claimed seven rebounds was a testimony to tight marking from Southland, with ex-New Zealand Breaker Kevin Braswell aptly marshalling the troops.

Effectively, Final Four playoffs night isn't show time but making one's lay ups as some players looked guilty of trying to look pretty for the Sky TV cameras when going up for shots.

Wellington often looked like sleep walking but whatever coach Pero Cameron said in the locker room at halftime worked as they as responded in the next quarter, reducing the deficit to four points as Frank and Webster cranked it up.

A couple of "And ones" later and the Sharks were back to a 10-point lead as Southland went up a few notches to close out the unexpected win.