The Bellingham Slam are headed to the 2010 International Basketball League championship game.

The Slam defeated the Yamhill HighFlyers 136-105 in a IBL playoff semifinal game July 3 at Warner Pacific College in Portland, Ore. They will face the Albany Legends on July 16 with the IBL title on the line.

Head coach Rob Ridnour said the key to his players' postseason success was strong defense.

Now just one win away from their second IBL championship in three years, the Slam must take down Albany, the number one seed. The Legends finished their regular season with a record of 16-3. The Slam finished the season with a 13-7 record and were the sixth seed in the playoffs.

The Slam have the ability to beat Albany, Ridnour said.

“I think we match up pretty good with them,” he said.

The title game will be played on Albany’s home court at the Washington Avenue Armory in Albany, N.Y. The IBL allows the top-ranked team at the end of each regular season to host the championship game.

The Slam will need a big performance from team leaders Jacob Stevenson and Ryan Diggs. In the semifinals against Yamhill, Diggs led the team with 26 points and five assists.

The Slam defeated the Los Angeles Lightning 112-94 in the quarterfinals on July 2. The game was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which the Slam lost. Ridnour said it felt good to beat the team that knocked them out of a shot at the championship last year.

This is the second time the Slam have reached the title game. They won the IBL championship in 2008 after defeating the Elkhart Express 118-111.