The 36s were boosted by the contribtion of Western Region Academy of Sport star Steven Marshall, who chalked up 43 of the 61 points for the team, while Nick Ghanem added eighteen of his own to lock in the big scoreline.

Although the Hawks were down 17-11 at quarter time, a second period resurgence put the game on level footing for a time.

Lachie Mitchell bagged 8 points for himself in the fight-back, but Ghanem’s contributions were too much for the Hawks late on, with the 36s claiming the second quarter with a tight 13-12.

Marshall and Ghanem continued to fire on all cylinders and outscored the Hawks with a 17 point to 11 point quarter, and the 36s led by 14 points off the back of the duo’s sublime performances.

The Hawks didn’t want to easily fall to their long-time rivals however, and sunk 12 points to stay in the fight.

It wasn’t enough however, as the 36s notched 14 of their own and claimed the 16 point victory off the back of a double-trouble performance from Ghalem and Marshall.

The Hawks now fall into the preliminary final on Wednesday afternoon, to face the Taipans after their demolished the Wildcats 57-38 in the minor semi-final.

Ahead 14-9 at quarter time, Taipans kept up their deadly attack in the next period with a 16 to 11 point haul.

They extended their lead to 11 points by the long break, with Lachlan Westwood carving through the Wildcats defence for 10 points.

The third period followed a similar trend, however this time Fletcher Rawson added 11 of the 16 points for the Taipan squad, and piled on a points lead that seemed unassailable for the Wildcats.

Wildcats pressed hard in the final eight minutes to get turnover balls and increase their chances of scoring, but Taipans – in sight of victory at the break – refused to release their grip on the match, eventually winning by 19 points.

Wednesday afternoon at 5pm will be the next junior basketball fixture, with the Taipans heading into a battle against the Hawks with the final spot in the grand final match up for grabs for both teams.