BOORT heads into Saturday’s North Central A Grade netball grand final slight favourites.
The home-court Pies had dominated the season until a lapse in the final home and away rounds.
One of those shock defeats came in the last game when going down to Nullawil by one goal.
It is the Maroons who on Saturday could stand in the way of premiership success for Boort, finishing the season in fourth spot before disposing of higher-ranked opponents in the finals.
Last Saturday, Nullawil snuffed out Wedderburn’s hopes of defending its 2022 title by coming from behind to be one goal ahead on the siren.
The match had the spectators on the edge of their seats. While Nullawil were first to score, Wedderburn were quick to respond.
Goalers at both ends of the court were shooting accurately, causing defenders a bit of grief. Only one goal separating them at the end of  the first quarter, both teams were playing some breathtaking netball.
There was no stopping Holly Lockhart and Aliza Lockhart in Wedderburn’s goal ring, stretching the lead out by seven at half time. 
Nullawil’s goal attack Gemma Fawcett shot the majority of goals for the third quarter, but it wasn’t enough to put Nullawil in front. 
But the final quarter was controlled by Nullawil shooting 16 goals, to Wedderburn’s nine goals in a nail-biting finish.
Aliza Lockhart (Wedderburn) and Jackie Watts (Nullawil) were named the umpire’s best in the preliminary final.
Saturday’s grand final will pit defences of two sides with accuracy and speed around goals also to be crucial.
Nullawil, in it first season as a North Central club, has proven a formidable opponent through all grades and will also line up in the B and Grade grand fnals as well as in two junior grades.
In C Grade, it will again be Boort versus Nullawil. The C Grade Pies had gone through the home and away season undefeated before being shocked by Nullawil in the second semi-final and going down by nine goals.
Boort had scoreboard redemption in the preliminary final against Birchip Watchem where Pheobe Malone was named best on court.
The Pies had stepped on to the court with fire in their bellies. They took control of the game with a 10-goal lead in the first quarter. 
Birchip Watchem’s Sandie Richmond was never going to concede easily and contested every possible throw she could from Boort. 
Kristen Gooding, Boort’s centre, controlled the game with her cool, calm and collected manner and steadied the team when needed. 
There was heartbreak for Boort’s B Grade side in last Saturday’s preliminary final, going down to Donald by three goals.
Donald had  four goals before Boort could convert. Jasmine Hollis was a focal point for Donald. Boort re-grouped and were able to get some timely intercepts to take the lead by one in the first quarter. Both teams had errors in the middle quarters and were punished by opponents.
Scores were level with only minutes to go with Donald taking advantage of missed goals by Boort and winning by three goals in a closely contested match.
Kaz Adams, the dominant of Boort attackers, was named the side’s best.