Southern will play Northern for the national under-23 championship, while Dunedin will play North Harbour in the under-19 final.
It will be a case of third time lucky for the under-23 team if it tops an impressive Northern team in this afternoon's decider.
Southern, which boasts six Steel players, lost the final to Waikato-Bay of Plenty each of the past two years by a lone goal.
However, it topped its nemesis 51-47 yesterday to finish round robin play with three wins from four matches, helping eliminate Waikato-BOP in the process.
Southern paid the price for some poor shooting in a 47-44 loss to Northern on Tuesday, connecting on just 44 of 61 attempts, eight more than Northern put up.
But it bounced back with a much better performance yesterday against the defending champion.
Coach Lauren Piebenga started Brooke Leaver in place of Sophia Fenwick at goal attack against her former team, a move which immediately paid off.
Leaver and goal shoot Te Paea Selby-Rickit missed only four shots in the first half, combining nicely inside the circle. But when Waikato-BOP outscored Southern 15-9 in the third quarter, it took a 38-37 lead into the final quarter.
Fenwick replaced Leaver in the final quarter and Southern turned around the one goal deficit to win the match by four goals.
Selby-Rickit landed 34 of her 38 attempts on goal, while Leaver hit 11 of 14 and Fenwick six from nine.
The Dunedin under-19 team extended its impressive unbeaten streak yesterday to six, setting up a showdown with North Harbour in the final.
After winning all four group matches earlier in the week, it beat Christchurch 39-31 in the quarterfinals and Wellington 43-29 in their semifinal.
Dunedin, which was pitted with North Harbour in pool B, beat the North Islanders 36-30 during pool play.
The under-19 final will be played at 2.15pm and the under-23 final at 3.45pm.
