NORTH Wagga has identified shutting down Temora's young shooting stars as their next big hurdle after ending Coleambally's Farrer League season with a 68-60 elimination final win on Sunday.
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With tall shooter Olivia Lang dominating, the Saints led from the outset and made Coleambally pay dearly for some poor first half errors in building a 32-22 lead.
Even a long-range shooting masterclass from Blues goal attack Lauren Pound couldn't stop North Wagga booking a semi final date with Temora at Maher Oval on Sunday.
Saints coach Matt Schofield rated it the best performance from his side all season, in particular their composure in attack.
"The patience they showed (was pleasing). Throughout the year we've got frazzled a bit and haven't waited for the right option, but today it just worked," he said.
"It was crisp and clean down that attack end, we've been working on positioning and structure and they really pulled it off."
Lang, probably, the tallest player in the league, is an unstoppable force one-on-one, but Schofield said Temora's teen shooters Meg Reinhold and Halle Derrick pose a huge threat.
The Kangaroos went down in the qualifying final 73-42 to Charles Sturt University on Saturday.
"We need to shut down their shooters. Our attack end can convert the turnovers but they've got two really good young shooters and we have to put as much pressure on them as we can," Schofield said.
"I'm hoping a bit more experience will help us get the job done, but anything can happen in finals."
Saints centre and captain Margie Johnson said the team has learned to stayed composed and keep faith in their attacking philosophies.
"Towards the end of the season we've really started to get things together. Our attack end worked really well today and our defence absolutely killed it," he said.
"She (Pound) is a really hard one to play on and she shoots from anywhere, but our defence worked really well.
"We've lost both games to Temora so it will be interesting. When we first played them we didn't have our full team. We have a lot of experience, an older team compared to them so hopefully that will help get us over the line."
The winner will take on the loser of Saturday's semi between The Rock-Yerong Creek and CSU in the preliminary final.
