Central has emerged as the team to beat at the under-23 championships being staged in Dunedin this week.
It shocked the tournament favourite, South, 72-61 on the opening day and is unbeaten after three matches.
It had a tense 63-61 win against Northern yesterday, but South appears to be gathering momentum.
It beat the highly-rated Waikato Bay of Plenty 61-53 in a key encounter last night and will clinch a place in the final providing it does not slip up against Mainland tonight.
The game was a cracker, with the new rule changes adding to the spectacle. In the end it was South which adapted better and utilised the two-point zone more efficiently.
Shooter Te Paea Selby-Rickit had the happy knack of drilling two-pointers at the end of quarters to keep her side in front.
With 15 minutes remaining, the game was in the balance, with the home team leading 43-39. But South landed more of those valuable two-pointers to seal the win.
In the under-19 grade, Dunedin emerged from a competitive pool D to secure a quarterfinal berth against Wellington today.
The home side had stumbled in the early match, losing a thriller 45-47 to Tasman.
It rebounded to beat Howick Pakuranga 49-21 in the afternoon.
But with three of the four sides posting two wins, that bonus point it picked up for the close loss to Tasman saw it clinch top spot in the pool.
The other quarterfinalists are: Auckland 1, Hamilton City, Christchurch, North Harbour, Manawatu and Eastern Waikato.
