After suffering defeat from a very solid Saints performance in the semi final on Saturday, the Springers came ready to play to Sunday’s prelimnary final against Ballarat’s Drummond Street.

The two teams had ended the season deadlocked on points, with Drummo having defeated Springers in their last encounter.

The first five minutes was a gritty game of tight defence and limited opportunities to score.

Mia Swan and Zoe Ingham dominated the defensive boards getting the Springers back into offence quickly and holding Drummo at bay.

Maggie Prendergast showed real confidence driving around defenders to open up the forward court for her team mates and a nimble Freya Maude drove beautifully through tiny gaps to get close to the ring on several occasions.

And while the early offiensive plan appeared to be not to follow a plan, flashes of brilliance suddenly emerged that broke the deadlock.

The Springers created space in the Drummo defence and then used it.

Luka Widdop found holes right in the paint and nailed a succession of baskets that had the Springers bench in raptures as they surged to a 10 point lead at half time: 19-9.

The Springers’ coach called for calm in the second half and to preserve the lead, but his team would have none of that.

Drummo delivered an early surge through some clever driving that put them back in touch of the win.

But then the Springers sniffed victory and turned on a display unlike any other that season.

Lily Lindsay would not let the Drummo fast breaks escape, stealing or bailing up ball carriers and several times forcing Drummo to turn over the ball to Springers.

With so many players capable of driving, the offence opened up for Springers as they moved the ball smartly and found open players making great position.

Lahra Gallagher brought her best game to both ends of the court with dogged one-on-one defence and superb positions under the ring in offence.

The Springers did not always convert first shots but in the dying minutes Swan and Ingham were there to take some very strong, contested rebounds that they then put straight up and into the basket.

The Springers ran away victors 37 - 19, their largest margin against Drummo all season, and won a birth in next Saturday’s Grand Final, 2.30pm at the WIN Minerdome Ballarat.