Wolves win first women's SBL title in 18 years
THE Wanneroo Wolves were the best women's SBL team for most of 2013 and were rewarded for that by taking out their first championship in 18 years winning Friday night's Grand Final 72-47 over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at the WA Basketball Centre.
Wanneroo might have finished the regular season in third position in the women's SBL standings, but the Wolves had in fact sat on top of the table for a lot of the campaign and now have been crowned as the 2013 SBL champions after Friday night's emphatic 25-point win.
Despite continually being a competitive team in the women's SBL, remarkably the Wolves had not won a championship since 1995 and that was on the back of triumphs shortly before that in both 1990 and 1992.
So by winning in 2013 it ends an 18-year championship drought for the Lady Wolfpack and it also saw 512-game veteran Sue Williams win an amazing fifth SBL championship and Wolves captain Whitney Perret also win her third after previously winning two with the Perry Lakes Hawks.
The Kalamunda Eastern Suns had done a fantastic job with a youthful squad under a young coach Craig Mansfield to make the Grand Final from fifth position, but the task of taking on a talented and experienced Wanneroo outfit in the championship decider proved to be just one step too far.
Just by making the Grand Final the Suns had made history and become the first club in franchise history to achieve that feat.
The Wolves simply wore the Suns down as the night went on with Kalamunda finishing up by just shooting 15-of-63 from the field at 24 per cent and 3-of-19 from three-point territory at 16 per cent.
Wanneroo was better in both areas going 30-of-71 from the field at 42 per cent and 6-of-14 from three-point land at 43 per cent.
Wanneroo star Nikita-Lee Martin was named the MVP of the Grand Final for 2013 when she finished off her outstanding season with another 13 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals on the back of 6-of-10 shooting from the field.
Ainsleigh Sanders must have gone close in MVP voting as well finishing with six points, 13 rebounds, four blocked shots, three steals and two assists for the Wolves.
Casey Lockwood also scored 14 points to go with four rebounds with Megan Lee scoring 10 points and Shani Amos finishing with six points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals in a strong all-round performance.
First-year Wanneroo coach Vlad Alava was obviously excited to win the championship but more so for his players and the way they brought into his defence philosophies.
"For me it means a lot to win a championship in my first year here after going through some tough times at Stirling. To be able to get this group of girls who have fallen short over the last couple of years over the line, was great and I feel it's more for them really," Alava said.
"I have heard all along the grapevine that you can't win championships just on defence, that you need to be able to score but holding them to 47 points shows you just what does win championships.
"Niki has been on fire in the second half of the year and a lot of that is her willingness to try and be better. She is thinking about playing Waves this coming season and she has been absolutely on fire the last six weeks."
Jennie Rintala top-scored for Kalamunda finishing the Grand Final with 11 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots with Lizel Buckley scoring 10 points, Melissa Moyle eight and Rachel Muenggenborg eight as well.
The Grand Final had a terrific and competitive first half with both sides throwing everything at one another trying to get an advantage, but neither was able to hit a devastating blow with the Wolves only leading 38-33 at the main break.
However, both teams were completely different outfits after the half-time interval with Wanneroo dominating the contest in the second half to end up emphatic 25-point winners by the final buzzer.
Unfortunately for the youthful Suns' line-up, they weren’t able to take their game up a notch when the Wolves did in the second half and Kalamunda scored just six points in the third quarter, and eight in the last period.
Meanwhile, Wanneroo was closing in on the kill and began to enjoy themselves out there the longer the second half went with the Wolves scoring 13 third quarter points and 22 in the final period to run out 72-47 victors to secure the 2013 women's SBL championship.
The focus now switches to Saturday night with the men's SBL Grand Final for 2013 featuring the Wanneroo Wolves also up against the Lakeside Lightning.
Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Helen Theoharakis (Hoop Shots)
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