The regular season is complete and the finals are upon us in the Central Highlands Netball League.
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Round 17 presented some changes to the top eight, providing some interesting story lines heading into week one of the finals.
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Gordon has secured its spot in the finals, climbing from ninth into seventh spot with a 12-goal win over Waubra.
In what was a round 17 elimination final, Gordon led from start to finish, securing a 46-34 victory.
With Skipton losing to Buninyong, the win lifted Gordon into seventh spot on the ladder, setting up a clash with sixth-placed Beaufort in a elimination final.
The two sides have not faced each other this season, lockdown affecting their scheduled round eight clash.
Eagles coach Ciane Van Dyken told The Courier her side had penciled in this game as the finals decider a month ago and they were pumped with the result.
"It was actually something that we identified four weeks before," she said.
"It was something that we had obviously prepared ourselves for that we had to win that game to make the finals ... so we were well and truly prepared."
It was a game that Gordon led from the outset, able to hold a lead between eight and 10 goals for the majority of the contest.
"We definitely had control of the game from the very start, our team was really calm and collected which was good and they were very hungry for the win," Van Dyken said.
"We put ourselves in a very comfortable position for every quarter afterwards to reassess every time that they would get back a few goals, we would know that we still had a bit of a buffer.
"It was good in the way that we did have control of the game from the first centre pass."
Rokewood-Corindhap jumped into the top four with an impressive 40-goal win over Clunes.
The Grasshoppers needed a win to secure their double-chance, as Springbank, who entered the round in fourth, had a bye and could not improve its percentage of games won.
Rokewood-Corindhap made sure of the result, going on to win 61-21.
It's the Grasshoppers' biggest score since round three, when they finished with 65 goals against Carngham-Linton.
They will now look forward to facing reigning premier Hepburn in a qualifying final.
The two sides had their round 13 clash abandoned due to lockdown.
The Burra were challenged by Learmonth in their closest game of the season to date, eventually pulling out an eight-goal win.
The final score read 49-41, which is the reigning premier's lowest score for the season and their most goals allowed.
The result means Learmonth falls to fourth on the ladder and will now face Buninyong in a qualifying final.
The two sides are yet to face each other this season, their round 13 clash abandoned due to lockdown.
Dunnstown secured its spot in the top eight with a strong 12-goal win over Carngham-Linton.
The Towners needed a victory and a Skipton loss to secure their spot, which eventuated, as they ran away 40-28 winners.
They'll turn their attention to Springbank in a elimination final, a side Dunnstown lost to 44-21 back in round four.
Buninyong secured its position as minor premier and ended Skipton's season, cruising to a 39-goal victory.
The final score read 57-18, which means Buninyong has kept its opponent under 20 goals in all but one game for the season.
With the scoring power of some of the top eight sides, this will be an important part of the Bombers' game heading into finals.
Bungaree finished its season strongly with a nine-goal win over Newlyn.
The 51-42 win lifts Bungaree above Clunes, Creswick and Newlyn on the ladder into 11th spot.
With some experienced names not returning to the court this season and a young side fronting up each week, it's been a year of growth for Bungaree, finished off with an impressive victory.
Creswick was the final winner of the round, handing Ballan a 28-goal loss at home.
The Wickers had gone without a victory since round four when they defeated Carngham-Linton 51-28.
The result means Ballan has gone without a win this season.
RESULTS
Creswick 48 def Ballan 20
Bungaree 51 def Newlyn 42
Dunnstown 40 def Carngham-Linton 28
Rokewood-Corindhap 61 def Clunes 21
Hepburn 49 def Learmonth 41
Buninyong 57 def Skipton 18
Gordon 46 def Waubra 34
A GRADE LADDER
BUNINYONG, 100 (406.51%)
HEPBURN, 100 (340.18%)
ROKEWOOD-CORINDHAP, 81.82
LEARMONTH, 80 (200.65%)
SPRINGBANK, 80 (166.44%)
BEAUFORT, 60
GORDON, 50 (90.89%)
DUNNSTOWN, 50 (72.07%)
Skipton, 45.45
Waubra, 40
Bungaree, 30 (67.99%)
Clunes, 30 (60.76%)
Creswick, 27.27
Newlyn, 18.18
Carngham-Linton, 9.09
Ballan, 0
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