by Nicholas Duck
An inspired 28-point second half from 17-year-old Riley Morehu has propelled the Warragul Warriors men's team to a grand final berth following a blowout win over number one seed Traralgon in Saturday's semi finals.

The club will get two chances at championship glory this Saturday as the Warriors women also got the job done, dismantling Morwell in a tough defensive performance to keep their perfect record alive.
Playing away from home, the expectations were the Warriors men would be up against it facing Traralgon, who finished the year on top of the table.
The T-Birds had just one loss to their name throughout the year - that being against the Warriors.
In the end what was expected to be a tight tussle turned into one way traffic as Morehu inspired Warragul to a 70-45 second half that saw them run out 117-86 winners.
Morehu was simply unstoppable past half time, constantly driving his way to the basket in transition to cut the T-Birds to pieces despite plenty of close attention from the Traralgon defence.
He was hardly doing it alone, however, with big man Marko Kulas impacting plenty both in rebounding and scoring (22 points) and Jordan Gooiker nailing five threes while keeping T-Bird star Ben Barlow relatively quiet.
Making the Warriors' second half dominance all the more impressive was the manner in which they responded to the T-Birds' challenge.
Having found themselves six points down at half time, Traralgon came out with plenty of intent in the third term, scoring 10 of the first 14 points of the quarter to bring the game back onto level footing.
It was from here that the visitors exploded. Buoyed on by a strong contingent of travelling fans, the Warriors kicked into gear, playing some truly sublime basketball to turn what looked destined to be a scrap of a game into a rout.
Warriors men's coach Michael Bridgman was full of praise for his team, particularly Morehu.
"I've been in basketball for a long time and I genuinely think his second half was the best I've ever seen. In that situation at that age, it was unbelievable," he said.
"It was easily our best performance of the year overall. We scored well and we stuck to our defensive plans."
The Warriors will face off with the Pakenham Warriors this Saturday 8pm at Cardinia Life Aquatic and Recreation Centre for a shot at the title. The two teams met back in round one which resulted in a comprehensive 41-point win to Pakenham.
With his team now rolling and with a better understanding of Pakenham's new-look squad, however, Bridgman said his team would be much better off this time around.
"We'll certainly be a lot more prepare than round one. They're a very balanced team, they're very good defensively but we're confident we have the tools to work through that. It'll be a ripping match."
Beginning one hour before the men on Saturday, Warragul's women's contingent brought the heat in a tough battle with Morwell to get the job done 81-70 and punch their own ticket to the grand final.
Cheered on by their home fans, the Warriors were challenged at various stages by the Magic but were able to keep them at arm's length for most of the night.
Superstar Skye Rees was at her dominant best, racking up 33 points to lead all comers for the night.
Alysha Marcucci was similarly unstoppable particularly from long range, sinking six threes so be a threat throughout the game.
The Warriors built their lead early off a highly entertaining first quarter that ended 37-27 their way.
From there defence became the name of the game as scoring slowed, with the Magic drawing as close as six points in the third quarter. That was before a flurry of points from Rees and Marcucci sent the margin back out to double digits, and from there the home side were able to hold their nerve.
Warriors women's coach Tony Marcucci was pleased his side were able to navigate a team that "came to play."
"They're a very good team and they were really up for the fight. The girls played very well in the end, it was a tough game," he said.
Warragul will aim to complete their perfect season on Saturday at 5:15pm at the same venue as the men against Moe Meteors.
Like the Magic, Moe will prove to be a difficult opposition, with the Warriors managing to pip them by 13 points in their meeting earlier this year.
Should both Warriors teams get the job done it will complete a rare CBL double championship and cap off what has been an extremely exciting season for the club as a whole.
Led by a contingent of youthful talent as well as some strong recruiting, the Warriors will be hoping Saturday can be the capstone on a lot of hard work behind the scenes.