PORTLAND has booked its ticket to the Country Basketball League women’s grand final with a dominant semi-final win in front of their home crowd over Horsham, coming away with an 87-63 victory at Portland Basketball Stadium.

The Coasters had their noses in front for most of the contest, however it wasn’t until the third quarter that they were able to open up a sizeable advantage, winning that 10-minute period 29-18 to open up a 20-point lead and more or less put the game to rest.

While the Hornets have been known for their physicality, particularly inside the key, the Coasters were able to match them in that regard, primarily due to the dominant presence of Alana Strom, who finished with a team-high 19 points.

Strom was effective at both ends of the court, cleaning up plenty of Coasters drives to the basket with offensive rebounds and putbacks, while also able to challenge dozens of Horsham drives on defence, coming away with a couple of huge blocks to show for it.

Strom was far from alone in making her presence felt during the game, as Tyleah Barr poured in 15 points while young tall Sienna Stone had 11 points, and Millie Jennings finished up with 10 including two threes.

The Iredell sisters from Horsham, Emalie and Maddison, proved to be a handful for the Coasters as they finished with 39 points between them, however Portland was able to frustrate the pair by getting them into foul trouble.

Emalie ultimately fouled out towards the end of the game, while Maddison had three fouls to her name by the end of the fourth quarter.

Portland coach Rebel Noter said it was an incredible result which his side had worked hard for over the course of the season to this point.

“We knew it was going to be a physical contest today, Horsham serve up a really good challenge, but for us it really came down to how Alana stepped up for us,” Noter said.

“Her inside presence and pressure defensively really just opens up the court for everyone else to do their thing, and it was really pleasing as well to see some of the young ones step up and have an impact on the contest.

“I’m not too sure what the final points totals for everyone was but to be honest I’m just really pleased with how everyone played.

“Our perimeter defence was elite once again, I set the girls a challenge that if we got 30 deflections, we would win the game and they finished up with 52, it goes to show the work rate for them out on the perimeter.”

Noter said he was very happy with how the younger group of players, some of whom were playing in their first CBL final, were able to step up and contribute when they got their opportunity.

“My message to those girls was simply don’t try to do too much, play your role and you’ll be able to have an impact,” he said.

“Whether it was Stella (Rogers) stepping out and hitting a few nice shots, or Sienna going to work inside with her post moves, they were all able to have an influence.”

The Coasters will now gear up for a grand final bout with Mount Gambier, who produced an extraordinary performance to topple top-placed Warrnambool in the other semi-final 77-50, with Tenielle Human pouring in 28 points for the victors.