ABA 2025-26: Railways Tigers bounced out in straight sets as resurgent Denmark Magpies advance to grand final

A resurgent Denmark Magpies booked their place in the Albany Basketball Association men’s A-grade grand final, eliminating a disappointing Railways Tigers on Tuesday night. The Tigers finished in the top two and earned a finals double chance, but were bundled out in straight sets after failing to find any rhythm in the preliminary final. In their most recent outing in round 15, the Tigers emerged 13-point winners despite fielding the bare five players but just a couple of weeks on, their season came to a crushing end. The Magpies were on song early as Luke Wilson, Kye Griffiths and Brody Hickey got them rolling. The game found its pace but was riddled with fouls, the Magpies already over the limit with more than nine minutes to play in the first half. That said they remained in control, leading by five points at half-time and then out to nine after big men Griffiths, Wilson and Brody Hickey scored early in the second period. Calum Dixon nailed a triple to keep the Tigers within striking distance but his side could not stop the Magpies from finding ways to score. The Magpies swung the changes regularly with four substitutes on the bench and it was their ability to spread the load that proved decisive in the eight-point victory. Six Magpies finished on the scoresheet and in comparison, only two Tigers hit more than three points for the game. Both Wilson and Brody Hickey finished the game fouled out, Wilson still with plenty of time to play in the second but it mattered little. Griffiths was immense under the glass, netting 14 points and countless rebounds, and the work of Ryan Hick (seven points) and Wilson (nine) was also critical to the 45-37 triumph. Despite the best efforts of the Tigers, the margin hovered around the 10-point mark for much of the final eight minutes. Dixon hit his third basket from deep to make it seven at one stage but the Tigers simply didn’t have the firepower to make the Magpies pay at the offensive end. Beauden East had filled the stat sheet and was up to 15 points before he was ejected after a technical foul inside the final 90 seconds with the side on its way to defeat. Dixon top-scored with 17 points but Eli Eaton (three) and Drew Willcocks (two) were the only other Tigers to hit a field goal in a night to forget. The victory was sweet reward for the Magpies, who missed out on the finals last season and will now chase title success against a red-hot Sonics side.