BENDIGO Braves' women star Kelly Wilson is proud of her team's resilience and determination to have met every challenge thrown at it in the NBL1 this season.
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But she also knows that what has so far been an unblemished season will count for nothing if the Braves don't finish it off on Saturday night with the NBL1 south women's championship.
The Braves will take on the Waverley Falcons for the title at the State Basketball Centre in Knox from 5pm.
Bendigo - seeking redemption from 12 months ago after losing last year's grand final to Ringwood - carries an undefeated 24-0 record into the championship game, with the Braves striving for their first championship since 2018.
While the Braves are undefeated there has been several close calls throughout the season, most notably last week's preliminary final against Mount Gambier when Bendigo trailed by as many as six points during the final quarter before rallying under pressure to win 97-96.
It was Wilson who made the match-winning basket last week, nailing a mid-range jumper with 28 seconds left on the clock.
"We've had some some shaky games throughout where we've been able to come away with wins, but we know you're never going to have the perfect game week in, week out," Wilson said this week.
"I think what a successful team looks like is that regardless of whether they are playing their absolute best basketball, they are able to find a way to win and that's what we have been able to do well this season.
"We've got a lot of great individual talent on our roster, but the buy-in from the team as a whole has been fantastic and the fact we have been able to combine that talent and play well as a group is what has got us this far."
The talent on the Braves' roster is evident in the lead-up to tonight's NBL1 awards presentation when the side has three players receive MVP/All-Star Five nominees - Wilson, Megan McKay and Amy Atwell.
Cassidy McLean was nominated for the women's defensive player of the year and Mark Alabakov for the coach of the year.
Now aged 39, Wilson - a member of the Braves' last women's championship team in 2018 - is showing no signs of slowing down after producing another stellar season.
One of only four Braves to play all 24 games, Wilson has averaged a double-double of 10.6 points and 10.6 assists per game, as well as 6.0 rebounds.
She dished out a season-high 19 assists in the Braves' 110-76 win over Hobart on May 6 and during the season received the ultimate recognition from the league when the NBL1 announced its south women's golden hands award will now be known as the Kelly Wilson Golden Hands Award.
Bendigo and Waverley (18-7) have met twice this season, with the Braves thumping the Falcons 92-46 on June 3 and winning their qualifying final three weeks ago 75-64.
"It's a grand final and regardless of what has happened during the season, we both start from scratch come the jump ball Saturday night," Wilson said.
"It's a really exciting opportunity and one of the reasons I'm still playing is because I really love playing basketball and competing.
"This has been a really enjoyable season; of course it's always better when you're winning and to get this far undefeated has been a great effort, but it doesn't mean anything if we don't win this game on Saturday night."
The Braves take on Waverley from 5pm followed by the men's grand final.
The men's game will be fought out between Knox and Sandringham from 8pm, with all 3070 general admission tickets for grand final night sold out.
HOW THEY MATCH UP:
BENDIGO
Record: 24-0
Average for: 89.1
Average against: 69.0
Past 5:
def Mount Gambier 97-96
def Waverley 75-64
def Knox 98-94
def Ballarat 91-75
def Sandringham 80-74
.......................................
WAVERLEY
Record: 18-7
Average for: 80.3
Average against: 71.3
Past 5:
def Geelong 85-74
def Eltham 80-57
lt Bendigo 64-75
lt Geelong 66-75
lt Mount Gambier 71-77
Meanwhile, the Braves' Youth League women's team will also be playing in a grand final on Saturday night.
Coached by Nathan Batchelor, the Braves will play Keilor at the Keilor Basketball Stadium from 8pm.
Bendigo won its way into the grand final after defeating Melbourne 68-64 in last week's preliminary final.
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