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Rhondda enjoy treble top
Rhondda Rebels capped a near perfect season by taking a 66-57 victory over Sheffield Hatters in the NBL Division One Play-off Final at Wembley Arena.
The Welsh side started the brighter and Shelly Boston hit six quick points to help Rhondda jump out to 9-3 lead.
A pair of three-pointers from Sheffield's Katie Crowley and then a basket from Sharon Castanada would give the Hatters their only lead of the game at 13-11, but further scoring from Boston and Lisa Trott gave the Rebels a 17-13 advantage at the end of the first period.
In Missy Lender and Boston, Rhondda have the top two scorers and rebounders in their division, and Sheffield had a glimmer of hope for countering this 1-2 punch, when Boston picked up her third foul midway through the second period.
Hatters were then able to close to within a point trailing 24-25 but further scoring from Boston and Lender saw Rebels go in at the break with a 34-26 advantage.
Defending champions Sheffield - facing a first trophyless season for over a decade - bounced out of the interval with an 8-2 run to help keep them in touch at 34-36, but back-to-back baskets from Boston broke up Hatters' surge.
When Boston picked up her fourth foul with 2:32 remaining in the third, it looked like Hatters might have the breakthrough they needed, but missed free throws from Sheffield's Heather Ruckledge were punished immediately by a 3-pointer from Cherie Hogg to give Rebels a 45-41 lead going into the fourth.
A 6-0 Rhondda run to open the final period did not bode well for Hatters chances but veteran Vanessa Ellis hit a 3-pointer to reduce arrears and a Crowley free throw cut the Rebels lead to 6 points at 47-53 with 4:24 remaining in the game.
However, Hatters were running out of options and had to foul more frequently and Boston showed that she was equal to the task hitting all shots that she took from the charity stripe enabling Rebels to pull away and run out winners to complete the treble of League, Cup and Play-Off victors.
The Australian was awarded MVP honours for an outstanding haul of 33 points and 16 rebounds, which included shooting 15 of 15 free throws. Moments later she would be awarded the EBBA Women's Player of the Year award to cap a fantastic first season for her in the British basketball.
Crowley led all scorers for Sheffield on 17 points and she was also recognised in the EBBA honours, winning the EBBA Junior Women's award for 2000/01 - repeating her success in the same category from the previous season.
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