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⁞The State Basketball League hosts its first ever Grand Finals at the new $40 million WA Basketball Centre this weekend and crowds are lining up in their thousands to see the last two teams battle it out.

The Women’s Grand Final will be played tonight, with the Southlands Willetton Tigers set to battle the Total Connections Perry Lakes Hawks at 7:30pm.

Willetton and Perry Lakes are the powerhouses of Women’s basketball with every Grand Final since 1997 being contested by at least one of the two teams.

The last 13 WSBL Grand Finals have been won by Perry Lakes (six), Willetton (five) with Perth (2000) and Lakeside (2006) the only other teams to have taken a title.

The Tigers head into the match as favourites, having finished first on the ladder at the end of the regular season. The reigning champions are loaded with talent, featuring five West Coast Waves players. The Hawks however, feature great up and coming talent and with experienced coach Glenn Ellis, are capable of causing an upset.

The Men’s Grand Final will be played on Saturday August 20, with the Lakeside Lightning and Southlands Willetton Tigers battling it out from 7:30pm.

Lakeside are the reigning Champions and have not lost a game since mid-June and are on an 11 game winning streak. Led by Wildcats assistant coach Andy Stewart, the team presents a formidable line-up for the talented Willetton outfit.

The Tigers are a powerhouse of WA basketball, however they are yet to win a championship at SBL level, having made just two Grand Final appearances (2002 and 2008).

The Men’s Grand Final has seen an increase of over 80% in crowd attendance with over 1,800 tickets sold and only a handful of tickets remain. The Women’s Grand Final will see a strong crowd of over 800 attend, to match the sell out crowd from 2009 at Perry Lakes.

Tickets for both games are available through Ticketmaster; either at outlets, online (www.ticketmaster.com.au) or phone 1300 136 122. Door sales will be available for both games, subject to availability.

The games will once again be broadcast live on the internet through SBLtv and our expert commentary team thanks to LMSC.com.au. Viewers can head to www.LMSCtv.com to watch the games.

All media who have not requested Grand Final accreditation and are wanting to attend the games are asked to contact Christian Rice ASAP on 0423 084 820 to ensure they have a access and parking pass for the games.

Other interesting numbers for the 2010 season include:

• Over 1.1 million page impressions on the SBL website during the 2010 season (13% increase on 2009 figures).
• An average of 1,890 people watched Live Stats every month during the season.
• SBLtv broadcast 19 games live online and was viewed over 4,000 times during the season and featured in all stadiums excluding Geraldton.
• Quarter and Semi Finals attendances reached 9,840 at ten venues over 28 games.

Photo by Helen Theoharakis (Hoop Shots/Court Side Media)

Purchase your tickets for the SBL Grand Final now through any Ticketmaster outlet or call 1300 136 122. Click here to purcahse tickets online.

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