By SAM WORTHINGTON - AAP Last updated 05:00 26/06/2010
ROSS GIBLIN/The Dominion PostMY BALL: Wellington Saints guard Lindsay Tait drives between Hawks guards Josh Pace and Paul Henare during their NBL semifinal in Wellington.
Erron Maxey shows way to finals for Saints Australia Boomers rout Argentina John Wall drafted No 1 by Washington Wizards Waikato Pistons get shot at NBL three-peat Injured Devendorf back to lead Saints challenge Southland Sharks stun NBL in debut season Rougeau, Helms remain loyal to Sharks A Giant fight for Waikato Pistons Giants stand tall for semi Weisenberg aims to pilot Jets to the top rank When the going got tough, Erron Maxey got going in last night's must-win semifinal at TSB Bank Arena.
The veteran American forward scored a team-high 24 points to go with six rebounds as the Wellington Saints rolled into next week's finals series with a 98-92 victory against a tenacious Hawke's Bay outfit.
Awaiting the Saints are the defending champions, Waikato Pistons, who finished strong to beat the Nelson Giants 74-62 in last night's other semifinal in Hamilton.
The first game of the best-of-three finals series is away on Tuesday before the Saints return to Wellington for games two and three (if necessary) on Wednesday and Thursday.
Maxey judged the best sixth man in the Australian league this season was particularly influential in the fourth quarter, coming off the bench to lead the Saints' defensive effort and make some huge buckets, including a fast break dunk which brought the crowd to its feet.
"My position on the team is coming off the bench, bringing energy, being a spark," Maxey said. "Whether it's offensively or defensively, I just try to find my groove and I was able to get the mismatches. Any of us can go ahead and make baskets at any point and it was just my turn to go ahead, try to get a couple of buckets going."
It was a fast and furious start from both teams but far from vintage basketball as they adjusted to the semifinals pressure.
Saints forward Casey Frank was particularly hungry, picking up 14 rebounds, while import guard Eric Devendorf, returning from an ankle injury, played through the pain barrier to score 22 points.
It wasn't pretty, but then it's not meant to be in the playoffs.
Hawks import Josh Pace barely raised a sweat while top-scoring with 30 points and the visitors manfully refused to throw in the towel in coach Shawn Dennis' last game in charge.
Though the Saints always seemed to have the game under control, big Ben Hill drained a long three-pointer his only points of the night to slash the margin to 92-89 with 24 seconds to go.
But Devendorf, Troy McLean and Leon Henry held their nerve to make some vital free throws while the Hawks twice threw away possession.
"We were worried about Hawke's Bay," Maxey said. "We knew that they were a scrappy team, that they were going to come out hard. The semifinals, it's one game elimination so you can't slip up."
The Saints will fancy their chances against Waikato after beating them both home and away during the regular season.
Ad Feedback Maxey said under the watch of rookie coach Pero Cameron, the Saints had evolved into a tight, unified group.
"Most definitely. Anybody can get hot at any point and we all depend on each other. We love each other on the court, off the court we hang out, so to be able to have that good chemistry, it's not a problem if somebody messes up.
"It's not personal and we go ahead and call each other out. It's because we're competing, we're family and we just want to be able to reach our common goal, which is to win games and win a championship."
