Horsham Hornets kept their unbeaten record at home intact with a 77-56 victory over Hamilton Hurricanes at Horsham Basketball Stadium on Saturday night.
A repeat of Hamilton's round seven win over Horsham looked on the cards after the home side's sluggish opening quarter.
But the Hornets blazed away in the second term and never looked back to post their 10th win of the season to secure a semi-final berth.
Darcy Tucker top-scored with 20 points in his return to the court, with captain Tim Pickert battling a foot injury to score 18 points.
Mark Dorward, 16, continued his stellar season and birthday boy Keegan Mason, 12, also contributed.
Brett Forsyth, 11 points, and Paul McKeller, 10, were the only players to reach double-figures for Hamilton.
Coach Damien Kilpatrick paid tribute to Mason and fellow youngster Jon Schwarz who stepped up in the absence of experienced duo Tim Wade and Stuart Robinson.
"Keegan and Jon really showed what they were made of
tonight both of them were absolutely fantastic," he said.
"Keegan shot beautifully and Schwarzy showed that he can play in that big man position and rebounded extremely well."
Kilpatrick admitted things didn't quite go to plan leading up to the Hornets' final home game for the home-and-away season.
"We had a lot of omissions from when I named it at the start of the week to what turned up on the court tonight," he said.
"It was looking shaky with the amount of injuries and unavailability we had but it was a very pleasing effort from the guys."
The two sides traded baskets early in the match before a whirlwind 8-0 run from the Hurricanes saw them take a 20-16 lead into quarter-time.
Pickert was kept scoreless in the first term but found his feet shortly after to help the home side get back into the contest. Dorward was also becoming increasingly dangerous, reaching double-figures to give Horsham a 24-22 buffer midway through the second period.
The second term belonged to the home side, which finished it off with an 11-0 run to take control with a 43-32 lead at the main break.
Pickert went from zero to hero, scoring 11-second quarter points to be the catalyst for the Hornets' revival.
Horsham fired up in the second half to extend their lead beyond 20 points.
But the Hornets' sloppy finish to the term gave Hamilton a flicker of hope with the scores at 57-45 at the final change.
That was as good as it got for the visitors, with Horsham far too good in the deciding term.
Stawell Wildcats lost 85-61 to Portland Coasters at Stawell Leisure Complex on Saturday night. Joel Freeland was the best for the home side, scoring 14 points.