AS they head into the final round of the regular season, the only thing on the mind of Ian Ozolins and his Kennedy's Tours Shoalhaven Tigers team is cementing their spot in the finals.
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To do so, the Tigers division one men's team must defeat the Orange Eagles, who side they easily accounted earlier in the season, and hope Sutherland defeat Bankstown - who has the season split of Ozolins' troops.
"It's terribly deflating to be in this position again, needing a result to go our way - it's a scenario we've found ourselves in the past two seasons," Ozolins said.
"With our match being at 4pm, we will know before we tip-off if the result has gone our way or not (the Sutherland vs Bankstown game starts at 12pm).
"Regardless of the result though, we owe it our ourselves and all our fans to play well and get a strong result.
"Our form at the start of the season put us in the finals hunt and now we just need to basketball gods to do us a favour."
In terms of their match, Ozolins knows the keys to grounding the Eagles to slowing down their two leading scorers Kobe Mansell (19.21 points a game) and Mitch Selwood (15.65) - a former NBL player with the Newcastle Pirates.
"Last time we played them, when it was minus two degrees in Orange, we beat them with an under-strength side," Ozolins said.
"So with a compliment of players, except William (lower leg injury), we should get the job done, if we play the way I know we are capable of.
"Last week against Sutherland, despite the loss, I thought we played well for three quarters, with only our second period letting us down.
"But if lock them down on defence, box out and hit out free-throws - which we missed 14 of against Sutherland - I'm confident we will do our part of the equation."
Saturday will also mark a special personal milestone for Ozolins, as it will be his last game inside the old Tigers Den, before the team moves to the new Shoalhaven Indoor Sports Centre for the 2019 Waratah League season.
"I've been walking in and out of that stadium for 42 years and Saturday will be my last game there as part of the Tigers," he said.
"I've had a lot of good and bad times at that stadium - I basically grew up in that stadium.
"Hopefully we can end it on a high this Saturday."
Tip-off for the division men's clash is 4pm, which will be followed by Scott Balsar and his youth men's must-win clash with the Sydney Comets at 6pm.
Glen Mustapic's division one women's side end their season on Saturday, with a trip to Goulburn to face the Bears.
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Courtney Ward
Sports Journalist for South Coast Register and Milton-Ulladulla Times, who loves all things sport and travel. All views are my own.
Sports Journalist for South Coast Register and Milton-Ulladulla Times, who loves all things sport and travel. All views are my own.
