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Kelly Wilson and Megan McKay again had double-doubles, Cassidy McLean and Kasey Burton combined for seven threes and the Bendigo Braves are into another NBL1 National Finals championship game after 90-68 win over the Central Districts Lions.
The Braves might have missed the finals in the NBL1 South season to miss the chance of defending that championship, but they can still win back-to-back National Championships.
While still without Olympians Amy Atwell and Ally Wilson, Bendigo has welcomed back McKay for the National Finals on the Sunshine Coast and beat the NBL1 West's Rockingham Flames by eight points on Friday night.
The NBL1 Central championship winning Centrals also won on the opening night at UniSC Arena over the Southern Districts Spartans setting up their meeting on Saturday at Caloundra Indoor Stadium with a spot in Sunday's Grand Final up for grabs.
RECAP FRIDAY NBL1 NATIONAL FINALS | NEWCASTLE V WAVERLEY
RECAP FRIDAY NBL1 NATIONAL FINALS | CENTRAL DISTRICTS V SOUTHERN DISTRICTS
RECAP FRIDAY NBL1 NATIONAL FINALS | ROCKINGHAM V BENDIGO
On the back of the momentum of their win on Friday to open the National Finals in their first game since the regular season ended on July 13, Bendigo shot out of the blocks impressively going on a 13-0 run in the first quarter on the way to a 15-point lead.
The advantage did get out to as much as 19 points in the second quarter as well in favour of Bendigo but Centrals did well to stay in touch and cut that deficit to 11 by the main break.
Bendigo picked up their offensive firepower again in the third quarter to pile on 25 points to 15 to end up leading by as much as 23 points.
That lead got out to as much as 28 as well in the fourth quarter before the Braves secured the 22-point win to now have the chance on Sunday in the championship game to back up the win they had in Joondalup last year.
While Megan McKay (18 points, 12 rebounds) and Kelly Wilson (14 points, 14 assists, five rebounds, three steals), they had plenty of help too which was key to Bendigo's big win.
Kasey Burton finished with 20 points and nine rebounds on shooting 4/7 from three-point territory with Cassidy McLean contributing 18 points, seven boards and five assists while making 3/5 from downtown.
Madeline Sexton also had 10 points, two rebounds and two steals.
McLean couldn’t hide her excitement to reach a second straight National Finals decider.
"It's awesome and we're super proud of this group," she said.
"We probably finished our season in the South conference than we probably would have liked and we knew what we were capable of. So to come here and play to our true talents is awesome."
Jasmin Fejo ended up top-scoring for Central Districts finishing with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists while Renai Fejo also provided 15 points and two assists.
Lily Zbierski made 5/6 from her three-point attempts on the way to 17 points and seven rebounds in her 17 minutes while Lilly Ritz also had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
BENDIGO BRAVES 90 (Burton 20, McLean 18, McKay 18)
CENTRAL DISTRICTS LIONS 68 (J Fejo 19, Zbierski 17, R Fejo 15)
For further information on the official destination of the National Finals, head to www.visitsunshinecoast.com
