It was a brave effort from the Falcons State Championship teams at Ringwood on Saturday Night, but one which ultimately ended in elimination from the Big V playoffs.

In a rare Double Header, both the Falcons Championship Men and Championship Women headed to Maroondah on Saturday needed wins to keep their campaigns alive. The women entered their game trailing their best of three series 1-0, while the Men faced a sudden death game, with the winner to progress through to the Grand Final.

Despite entering game one last weekend as rank underdogs, the Falcons surprised many around the league by hanging tough with top seeded Ringwood and being right in the game through to the fourth quarter before eventually relenting. The Hawks appeared intent on not seeing a repeat of that, taking the early lead in the first quarter. The gritty Falcons worked their way back into the contest in the second quarter however, on the back of Tegan Cunningham's efforts offensively, and a a good job keeping Hawks star import Amber Hegge quiet.

After half time however Hegge began to assert herself and the Falcons couldn't find another stirring run in them, eventually succuming to the Hawks' multiple scoring threats. It brought an end to a roller-coaster season for the Falcons, but one which ended with a well-deserved finals berth after a spot in August action had seemed unatainable just a few weeks earlier.

The Men then took the court in a continuence of a rivalry which has been a feature of State Championship Men since the 2010 Grand Final series. The Hawks and Falcons always play high scoring, hard fought and thoroughly entertaining affairs, and this was no exception. The Falcons got the early break and established a nice double-figure lead early on. It took a lot of chipping away from the Hawks to decrease the Falcons lead, but by three quarter time it was just a three point ball game and the crowd knew they were in for another classic.

The general rule in these Falcons vs Hawks game is that the team who makes shots will normally come up with the win. In the fourth quarter, despite the Falcons' best efforts, it was the Hawks who came up with buckets when it mattered most. Despite good production from Ivan Platenik and Brad Kelleher amongst others, the Falcons came up short. In a league where most considered the top three teams to be a step above the rest, the Falcons showed why they one of those top three teams.

The Falcons Big V teams will now go into off-season mode, enjoyng a well earned rest after a long and demanding season. Soon enough, the Falcons biggest stars will be out on a hardwood again gearing up for a big 2015 campaign.