Bendigo have done regional Australia proud by clinching the WNBL minor premiership, but defending champions Dandenong and red-hot Adelaide loom as the big threats to their fairytale.
The Spirit (20-3) wrapped up top spot and their first minor premiership with a round to go, with a 83-46 home thrashing of lowly Canberra (7-16).
Dandenong (19-4) clinched second spot with a Queensland road double, winning 71-63 at fourth-placed Townsville (12-10) and 100-62 at Logan (8-15).
The Rangers, who have won nine of their past 10, could finish level on wins with Bendigo, but the Spirit hold the season split on their Victorian rivals.
Adelaide (16-6), who beat Dandenong and Bendigo in their past two games, made it five wins in a row with a 98-73 home victory over Sydney (7-16).
Sunday's results mean Bendigo will host the major semi-final against Dandenong and Adelaide will entertain Townsville in the minor semi.
Bendigo coach Bernie Harrower was delighted to have clinched home advantage through the finals as his club seek to win their first WNBL title.
"We're the only national (league sporting) team that plays out of Bendigo and the community have really got behind us and our gates are up nearly 50 per cent up on last year," Harrower told AAP.
Bendigo had six double-digit scorers, but no one with more than 14, as they bounced back from last week's 20-point away loss to Adelaide.
Opals star Suzy Batkovic paced Adelaide against Sydney, tallying 27 points.
While Adelaide crashed out of last year's finals series in straight games, they appear to be gathering momentum at the right time this season.
"Primarily (because) we've got a healthy bunch of athletes," Adelaide coach Peter Buckle told AAP.
"In the last month, we've had everybody on the court training and that's clearly helped us play better."
In other second-last round matches, Sydney won 69-55 at West Coast (3-19) and Bulleen (10-13) eked out a 77-75 home victory over Canberra.
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