May 11, 2004 Lions Fall in Another Close Game
The ProBuild Lions blew a twelve-point halftime lead and lost 52-55 to Cape Holland Den Helder in Game Two of the semifinals. Jen Kerns led the Lions with 14 points, Marte Linthout scored 12 and Jildis Pronk had 11 points and - despite being the smallest player on the floor - 11 rebounds. Zuzana Sakova scored six points and was fouled out in the second minute of the last period, when a dubious offensive foul was called on her. Trish Patterson left the game in the third quarter with a cramped calf muscle. So two starters were not available during money time, and that didn't work out well for the Lions. The first period ended in a 15-15 score, but in the second quarter the Lions were able to gain a twelve-point lead, 37-25. Like Sunday, however, they didn't return from the locker room being focused and aggressive, which enabled Cape Holland to almost even the score in the 8th minute of the third period, 44-43. Jen Kerns' second 3pointer and a 3point-play from Jildis Pronk stretched the gap to 50-43 at the end of the quarter. After Sakova being fouled out Rebecca Maessen scored a trey for Cape Holland to cut the Lions' lead to just one point, 52-51. Next both teams didn't score for four minutes until the 8th minute, when Ingeborg Wijnands put Den Helder in the lead with a short jumper, 52-53. Another score by Cape Holland's Tish Wescott with 16 seconds on the clock was followed by a time out from coach Brian Benjamin, who called an offensive play to set up a shooter for a 3point-attempt. Jen Kerns took the shot with 3 seconds to go, but unfortunately missed. Next game will be played on Thursday in Den Helder.
May 9, 2004 Cape Holland - ProBuild Lions: 1-0
The Lions cut a 16-points deficit to five but couldn't come any closer losing 60-55 in Den Helder on Sunday in game one of the semifinals. Zuzana Sakova scored 21 points against 7-12 shooting from the floor, but didn't get much offensive help from her teammates, who all got stuck in single digits. Trish Patterson scored 6 points and Jen Kerns had 4 points to go with 4 assists and 4 steals, but also with 7 turnovers. Like playoff games often are, the game was ugly. The Lions shot a not-so-bad 40% from the floor, but attempted just 45 shots, a low since January 3, when they had 42 attempts (their average is 59). That game happens to be the last away game against Cape Holland, who is the best defensive team of the league.
Coach Brian Benjamin was disappointed, but also saw the bright side. "I still think we can beat them", he said. "We just have to stay aggressive and focused during the whole game, and not only stretches. Zuus was great today, scoring 21 points and all, but offensively we need more players making baskets. I thought we did a good job attacking the basket, but when we get fouled and go to the line, we'll have to convert our free throws, otherwise it's pointless."
The Lions and Cape Holland stayed close during the first half of the game, but in the last minutes before halftime Cape Holland's center Tish Wescott scored six consecutive points to take her team to a 37-32 lead. Next Jen Kerns and Trish Patterson both missed a pair of free throws, so the Lions went into the locker room with a 5 point deficit. Fifteen minutes later they came out again, but seemed to have left behind some of their focus. In a few minutes Cape Holland gained a ten point lead and the Lions were not able to close the gap during the third quarter, which ended in a 50-40 score. Behind a 3pointer from Romy Calderon and a basket from Tish Wescott Cape Holland grabbed a 15 point lead in third minute of the last period. Another trey from Calderon in the 6th minute placed the Lions behind 60-44. In the last three minutes of the game the Lions had a 0-11 run behind four points from Sakova and three from Gerda Heinen. But it proved to be too little and too late. The next game is in Landsmeer on Tuesday.
May 6, 2004 The Semi-finales
Sunday the ProBuild Lions will travel to Den Helder to play their first game in the semi-finales against Cape Holland. It's the 6th time in seven years the Lions reach this stage in the playoffs. Only last season they were eliminated in the first round. A rebuilding process followed and the new coach Brian Benjamin set his goals high, but not too high: reaching the Final Four Tournament, the finals of the Dutch Cup Competition and the semi-finals of the playoffs. Two of the three goals are reached, so there's reason to be satisfied. Nevertheless the Lions will give every effort to reach the Finals of the playoff and go for the championship. According to coach Benjamin the Lions are not without chance against Cape Holland, although they lost all their three earlier games this season against the Den Helder team. "Of course we have a chance", he said. "In fact I believe we can beat them, I have that much confidence in our team. As a team we're growing every game now. Our ability to handle the ball against their press and to stop the penetration from their guards will be the key. If we can play inspired and aggressive we'll be able to reach the finals." A clear and brave statement from the Landsmeer rookie-coach, who will be up against his very experienced colleague Meindert van Veen, who is also coach of the Dutch national team and is the proud owner of a whole collection of championship medals.
Sunday's game starts at 5 pm CET. Den Helder is the Dutch Navy town, situated in the northwestern part of the Netherlands. By car it's a 75 minutes drive from Landsmeer.
May 2, 2004 Lions On To Round Two
Zuzana Sakova scored 24 points and grabbed 9 rebounds to lead the ProBuild to an 84-71 victory on Lely Amsterdam. The series now is 2-0 and the Lions move on to the semifinals of the playoffs, where they have to battle Cape Holland Den Helder. The other semifinal is between Dressguard Barendrecht and Perik Jumpers. Like playoff games often are, Saturday's game was kind of ugly but exiting. Three other Lions reached double figures; Trish Patterson scored 15 points, Marte Linthout had 12 and Jennifer Kerns 12. ProBuild shot 57% from the floor and 79% from the free throw line. Molly McDowell scored 25 points for Lely. Like Wednesday the game stayed close for 36 minutes. With four minutes on the clock Trish Patterson had a driving layup to score 74-69. Next Gerda Heinen scored 76-69 and coach Laki Lakner of Lely had to take his last time-out. In the last three minutes the game was decided from the free throw line. Zuzana Sakova hit one free throw and Gerda Heinen made both to stretch the lead to ten points, 79-69, with 75 seconds on the clock. In the last minute of the game Sakova hit three free throws around a score from Lely's Mathilde Parmentier and Jen Kerns made the last two points from the line. Coach Brian Benjamin said his team overcame a slow start to play an excellent fourth quarter. "We are a much deeper team than Lely and that's why we won this series", he said. "Lely's star players Molly McDowell and India Lewis practically have to play the whole game, while we can rotate ten players. In the fourth quarter that makes a difference, especially when you're playing the second game in four days." The Lions now have a whole week to recover. The first game against Cape Holland is scheduled in Den Helder for next Saturday.
April 29, 2004 Game 2
Saturday ProBuild Lions host Lely Amsterdam for the second game of the first playoff-series. What can we say after everything that's already been written? Nobody can predict the outcome, ProBuild and Lely are 2-2 now over the whole season. Both teams are not much alike, however. Lely is kind of predictable; scores must come from Molly McDowell, India Lewis or Rinske van Schooneveld. Those three players scored 95% of Lely's points in Wednesday's game. If you can hold the combination of these players under 50 points, you win the game. ProBuild, on the other hand, thrives on team effort, while it is hard to predict which player is going to stand up and carry the team. Zuzana Sakova is the most constant factor, but any other player can score between zero and thirty points. Saturday against Dressguard it was Marte Linthout, Wednesday Trish Patterson had a huge game with 22 points. Next game, it can be anybody. Game starts at 8.30 PM CET.
April 25, 2004 Playoffs Start Wednesday, Bring On Lely
Wednesday the Lions will only have to travel a few kilometres to the Amsterdam Apollohal, to play Lely in the first game of the playoffs. Eight teams will battle each other in the first round in a best-of-three-series. Lely ended the regular season in 4th seed and the Lions in 5th, so the series start in Amsterdam and move to Landsmeer Saturday. If necessary a third game will be scheduled next Wednesday in the Apollohal. In the regular season the teams met three times. The first game in Landsmeer was a close game, but in the end the Lions lost by 64-68. In the Amsterdam Apollohal it got even closer, as the Lions forced Lely into overtime, but eventually let the game slip away, 72-70. The last game, two weeks ago again was a nail biter, but the Lions came out victorious in the end, 64-68. Zuzana Sakova (18 points) and Gerda Heinen (15 points) led their team to victory, but it was Jen Kerns who nailed the winning 3pointer from downtown with one minute on the clock. Wednesday's game starts at 8.30 PM CET.
April 28, 2004 Trish Takes Team to Victory, Lely-Lions 0-1
Trisha Patterson scored a career-high 22 points to lead the ProBuild Lions to a 65-73 victory on Lely Amsterdam in the first round of the playoffs. The Canadian center was 10-13 from the field and also had 5 rebounds. Most rebounds however were for Slowakian shooting forward Zuzana Sakova, who grabbed 19 boards to go with 12 points. Jen Kerns chipped in with 8 points and 6 assist and Marte Linthout had 10.
Coach Brian Benjamin said he was proud of his team. "We won the game because we played very good defense, especially in the second half. We had the intensity level on which a playoff-game should be played. Trish played a terrific game, but the victory definitely was a team effort", he said. The Lions had a season-high 45 rebounds. Lely's Molly McDowell scored an impressive 27 points, but could not save her team this time. The game stayed close until the fourth quarter, when the Lions held Lely scoreless for the first five minutes and placed a 6-0 run, 53-59. Both teams were in the penalty-situation by then. With one minute on the clock Jildis pronk and Jen Kerns scored 4 consecutive free throws and stretched the Lions-lead to 12 points, 60-72. After another free throw by Marte Linthout and a 3pointer by Lely's Sanne Bakker it was down to 63-73. In the last seconds of the game Marte Linthout set up Trisha Patterson under the Lely basket to score her 24th point, but unfortunately for Trish and the Lions on the score sheet her points were written down on the Lely side. All the officials seemed to have overlooked that mistake, so it looks like a 63-75 lopsided Lions-win was converted in a more modest 65-73 victory.
April 25, 2004 Playoffs Start Wednesday, Bring On Lely
Wednesday the Lions will only have to travel a few kilometres to the Amsterdam Apollohal, to play Lely in the first game of the playoffs. Eight teams will battle each other in the first round in a best-of-three-series. Lely ended the regular season in 4th seed and the Lions in 5th, so the series start in Amsterdam and move to Landsmeer Saturday. If necessary a third game will be scheduled next Wednesday in the Apollohal. In the regular season the teams met three times. The first game in Landsmeer was a close game, but in the end the Lions lost by 64-68. In the Amsterdam Apollohal it got even closer, as the Lions forced Lely into overtime, but eventually let the game slip away, 72-70. The last game, two weeks ago again was a nail biter, but the Lions came out victorious in the end, 64-68. Zuzana Sakova (18 points) and Gerda Heinen (15 points) led their team to victory, but it was Jen Kerns who nailed the winning 3pointer from downtown with one minute on the clock. Wednesday's game starts at 8.30 PM CET.
April 25, 2004 Probuild meets BV Lely in quarterfinals of 2004 Playoffs
Wednesday the playoffs start with the following schedule:
Cape Holland - Gibo Groep Grasshoppers
Dressguard Binnenland - 3Es Lieshout
Perik Jumpers - BV Shooters
BC Lely - ProBuild Lions
April 24, 2004 Linthout Leads Lions to Victory in Last Game of the Regular Season
Marte Linthout shot 6-7 from behind the arc to finish with 24 points and leading the Lions to a 77-84 victory on second seeded Dressguard Barendrecht. Zuzana Sakava added 19 points. ProBuild's center-duo Trish Patterson and Nadine Boesaart was successful in containing Dressguard's star-center Marloes Roetgerink, holding her to just 7 points and scoreless in the second half. Boesaart scored 9 points and grabbed 9 rebounds, while Trish Patterson had 7 points, 7 steals and 8 rebounds. Jen Kerns contributed 11 points and dished out 7 assists. Coach Brian Benjamin said he was proud of his team. "This time we played with heart and passion and that's why we were successful. I hope we can continue this in the play-offs." In the first round of the Play-Offs, which will begin coming Wednesday, ProBuild will meet either Lely Amsterdam or Perik Jumpers.
In the first quarter the Lions overcame a 23-13 deficit to end the quarter 25-20. In the second period Dressguard built a 41-26 lead, but then the Lions placed a devastating 0-24 run, holding Dressguard scoreless for 7 minutes until the fourth minute of the third quarter. By then ProBuild led by ten points, 42-52. In the fourth period the Lions managed to stretch the lead to 52-67, marked by Marte Linthout's 6th 3pointer of the game. Dressguard's Irene Sloof scored two consecutive 3pointers to close the gap to five points with one minute on the clock, but ProBuild kept it's cool, making 9 of 14 free throws in the last minute, which seemed to last 15 minutes or so. Jen Kerns and Zuzana Sakova watched from the bench, both being fouled out in the last period.
April 22, 2004 ProBuild meets Dressguard in Last game of the Season
Saturday the ProBuild Lions travel to Barendrecht near Rotterdam, where they'll battle the second seeded Dressguard Binnenland. ProBuild and Dressguard meet for fourth time this season and in all games the Barendrecht team was victorious. The first duel in Barendrecht the Lions lost by twenty points, 70-50. In the second meeting the Lions caused Dressguard more trouble, taking the game to overtime but losing eventually 75-83. The third game was the Final of the Dutch Cup Competition in Amsterdam. The Lions stayed in the game for three quarters, but faltered in the fourth, losing 82-72. Barendrechts center Marloes Roetgerink (Dutch MVP 2003-2004) scored 25 points to lead her team to victory. Stopping big players under the boards is one of ProBuild weaknesses, it seems. Wednesday Cape Holland's center duo Tish Wescott and Naomi Hallman also did a devastating job in the paint. Saturday's game will be the last game of the regular season. Next week the Play Offs starts.
Game starts at 20.15 CET.
April 22, 2004 Jolanda Jansen retires
Jolanda Jansen will not play for the Lions again this season. Jansen made this decision Monday, due to disappointing personal results this season, averaging 4,3 ppg in 15 minutes. The Lions' roster for the Play Offs now consists of ten players again.
April 21, 2004 Lions Lose from Cape Holland
ProBuild led by one point into halftime before losing 61-74 to Cape Holland Den Helder. Zuzana Sakova scored 21 points and Marte Linthout had 15. All other players were stuck in single digits. Both teams didn't play their best games of the season. After the first quarter the Lion led 20-18 and by halftime 33-32. In the 7th minute of the third quarter Tish Wescott scored four points to bring Cape Holland to a 40-51 lead and the quarter ended in a 44-57 Lions deficit. In the fourth period ProBuild wasn't able to change anything about that.
April 19, 2004 Cape Holland visits Landsmeer
Wednesday first seeded Cape Holland Den Helder visits Landsmeer to battle the ProBuild Lions in a midweek game. ProBuild and Cape Holland met twice this season. First game the Lions got routed 60-31 in Den Helder. The home game in Landsmeer was just a few weeks ago and ended in a 65-69 loss. The Lions showed they should be able to beat Cape Helder. "If we can break their full court press and don't commit too many turnovers, we'll certainly stand a chance", coach Brian Benjamin said after the game. Game starts at 8.30 PM CET.
April 16, 2004 Sakova Shines, Lions Roll
Zuzana Sakova scored 25 points and probably played her best game of the season until now as the Lions beat the Bunschoten Shooters, 81-71. The Slowakian forward shot 9-12 from the floor and in the process gathered 7 steals and 5 rebounds. Marte Linthout (17) and Gerda Heinen (16) were the other two Lions in double figures. Jen Kerns scored 8 points and Trish Patterson had 4.
The Lions came out strong, with Zuzana Sakova, Jildis Pronk and Jen Kerns scoring 3-pointers and Trish Patterson making a 3-point play, taking a 12-point lead within the first five minutes, 17-5, and forcing Shooters-coach Jan Bos in a time out. During the game the Lions never trailed.
The first period ended in ProBuild's favor with a score of 28-21. In the first five minutes of the second quarter the Lions scored four consecutive treys, starting with Nadine Boesaart and followed by Gerda Heinen, Marte Linthout and Jildis Pronk, and gained a 40-23 lead. But then the Lions began to play sloppy and allowed Shooters to get back in the game. By halftime the gap was closed to 47-34.
In the second half the Lions continued to play sloppy, especially on defense, but Shooters wasn't able to capitalize on that. The gap stayed about the same and the third period ended in a 61-44 Lions lead. In the last period Shooters used it's American star Heather Cusick - who ended the game with 21 points - to cut the deficit to 63-54, but next Marte Linthout scored her fourth 3-pointer of the game to make sure the Lions came out victorious winning 81-71.
April 15, 2004 BC Shooters
Friday night BC Shooters from Bunschoten visit the Indoor Centrum Landsmeer.
Both teams are 26 points out of 24 games, so winning is important here. ProBuild lost it's home game against the Shooters by 59-67, but in the second half of the season went to Bunschoten and came out with a 56-69 win. Shooters is a talented and well coached team. Gerda Heinen's younger sister Bettine is one of those talents.
Game starts at 8.30 PM CET.
April 14, 2004 Lions Enjoy Win in Amsterdam, 64-68
For the first time this season the ProBuild Lions were victorious against BV Lely, as they snapped a 3-game losing streak in the Amsterdam Apollohal. Zuzana Sakova had 18 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, but the real heroine of the game was Gerda Heinen, who scored 15 points but also limited Lely's star Molly McDowell to 18 points. Jen Kerns chipped in with 13 points and 7 rebounds. Trish Patterson scored 9 points for the Lions.
The Lions saw a 10-19 lead in the first period whittled to 17-21 by the start of the second. In the 5th minute Lely gained a 30-25 lead, but at halftime the score was evened again, 35-35. In the third period the teams changed leads, but at the end of the quarter Lely came out 5 points ahead of ProBuild, 55-50. Lely stayed in the lead until Jen Kerns was fouled with two minutes on the clock and scored one of her two free throws, 64-64. Next Lions possession the shot clock was running down and Kerns took a 3pointer from downtown, which took a long, long while to reach the basket. But then it went in, nothing but nets. Next Lely missed and the Lions took their time, passing the ball around and ran down the shot clock, until Gerda Heinen was fouled with 8 seconds on the clock. Heinen hit her first attempt but missed the second. But it was enough to win the game, 64-68.
April 12, 2004 Midweek game against BV Lely
Wednesday ProBuild doesn't have to travel far to meet BV Lely, who has its domicile in the centre of Amsterdam. What can we expect? Not an easy game, because the Lions until now are winless against the Amsterdam team. In Landsmeer it was a close game, but in the end the Lions lost by 64-68. In the Amsterdam Apollohal it got even closer, as the Lions forced Lely into overtime, but eventually let the game slip away, 72-70. As a team Lely is mainly dependent on American pointguard Molly McDowell. If she scores thirty points or more - which she does most of the time - chances are good to win the game. If she scored twenty points or less, most games were lost. This weekend Lely had a heroic win at second seeded Binnenland Barendrecht, when Molly scored 30 points, but her fellow-American teammate India Lewis had 31. With the Lions it's much harder to predict who's gonna stand up and carry the team. Sometimes, like last Saturday, nobody does. So, everything is possible next Wednesday. Game starts at 8.30 PM CET.
April 10, 2004 ProBuild suffers defeat in first Elite A game
ProBuild Lions managed to stay in the game for three quarters, but then let it slip away in the last period and lost 73-56 to Perik Jumpers. Just one Lions player got into double figures, Zuzana Sakova, just nearly, with 10 points. Trish Patterson added 9 points and Jen Kerns, Nadine Boesaart and Rachel Witkamp all contributed 8. The Lions started the game with a 11-2 run and Perik needed a quick time-out to get back in the game. The first quarter ended in an 18-20 Lions lead. During most of the second period the teams changed baskets, but in the last minute a free throw and a score from Natalie Hudec took the Jumpers to a 36-31 lead at halftime. Perik's Rhona McKenzie scored six points at the beginning of the third quarter to stretch the lead to 46-35. After a time-out from coach Brian Benjamin the Lions changed to a zone-defense, which took Perik some time to adapt. Rachel Witkamp scored four points to lead the Lions back into the game, 44-50. Next the Jumpers scored, but Jildis Pronk swished a 3-pointer at the end of the quarter, 47-52. In the fourth quarter the Lions had a chance to close the gap even further, when Zuzana Sakova stole the ball and set out for the Perik basket. But somehow she lost the ball again and gave Rhona McKenzie the opportunity to score an easy lay-up, 54-47. McKenzies lay-up sparked an 11-0 Perik run, after which the Lions looked at an 67-50 deficit. The last minutes of the game ProBuild couldn't do much about that.
April 8, 2004 Road trip to Tubbergen
Saturday night the Lions travel to Tubbergen in the east of the Netherlands, to battle the red-hot Perik Jumpers. The Jumpers are on a four-game winning-streak and just managed the Elite-A poule after a bad start of the season. ProBuild and Perik met twice this season. ProBuild's home game ended in a 66-57 victory, but the away game in Tubbergen was lost by 7 points, 78-71. Perik's Canadian power forward Rhona MacKenzie destroyed the Lions almost on her own then. Former Lions player Nathalie Hudec since January runs the point in Tubbergen and does that well. Game starts at 6.30 PM CET.
April 3, 2004 Lions fall to Cape Holland, 65-69
The Lions led in the fourth quarter, but couldn't stay in control and lost to first seeded Cape Holland Saturday. Jen Kerns scored 17 points; Zuzana Sakova added 15 and Trish Patterson chipped in with 12. Sakova and Patterson both had 7 rebounds.
Coach Brian Benjamin thought his team played well, although he saw his players committing too much turnovers against the press defense Cape Holland played. "Of course we played well, considering we almost beat the top-seeded team in the league. But we're still in a building phase after we added three new players in February. We'll have to stop making these little mistakes on defense, hesitating to much, making wrong decisions, and so on and so forth. I think we still can grow as a team and eventually beat teams like Cape Holland and Dressguard."
ProBuild ended the first quarter with a 13-18 deficit. In the second period Cape Holland stretched their lead to 21-28, but a 3-pointer from Jen Kerns closed the gap to 24-28. However, at halftime ProBuild was trailing by 8 points, 28-36. In the third period Cape Holland gained their biggest lead, 39-50, but 3pointers by Leonie de Vlieger and Jen Kerns brought the Lions back again. Two other 3pointers at the beginning of the first quarter, this time by Marte Linthout and Nadine Boesaart, brought ProBuild in the lead for the first time since the first period, 55-57. The game stayed close until the 8th minute, when Cape Holland's Romy Calderon swished a trey and made 62-66. Marte Linthout answered with a 3point-play, but another score from downtown from Rebecca Maessen, brought Cape Holland the victory, 65-69.
April 1, 2004 Cape Holland
Saturday Cape Holland Den Helder will visit the Indoor Centrum Landsmeer, to play the last game of the regular competition against the ProBuild Lions. Next week the Dutch league enters a new stage, which is kind of difficult to explain. Let's try. The regular competition has ended then, and the league will be split up into an "A"- and a "B"-Poole. The six top-seeded teams in the standings of the regular competition qualify for the "A"-pool. In the next round these teams, whose play-off spots are already guaranteed, will meet each other once. The six teams seeded 7th or worse will meet once in the "B"-pool, battling for the two remaining play-off spots, or, on the other hand, to avoid relegation. So eight teams will be in the play-offs, starting in the first week of May.
Den Helder is in first seed at the moment, so it will be a difficult game for the Lions. In January ProBuild suffered a dramatic defeat in Den Helder and was sent home with its most lopsided loss of the season, 60-31. Den Helders center Trish Wescott scored almost as much points as the Lions, namely 27. But now we have a Trish of our own and we'll see what see can do against Wescott. Jen Kerns is recovered from her calf injury and will play Saturday night.
Game starts at 9.30 PM CET
The ProBuild Lions blew a twelve-point halftime lead and lost 52-55 to Cape Holland Den Helder in Game Two of the semifinals. Jen Kerns led the Lions with 14 points, Marte Linthout scored 12 and Jildis Pronk had 11 points and - despite being the smallest player on the floor - 11 rebounds. Zuzana Sakova scored six points and was fouled out in the second minute of the last period, when a dubious offensive foul was called on her. Trish Patterson left the game in the third quarter with a cramped calf muscle. So two starters were not available during money time, and that didn't work out well for the Lions. The first period ended in a 15-15 score, but in the second quarter the Lions were able to gain a twelve-point lead, 37-25. Like Sunday, however, they didn't return from the locker room being focused and aggressive, which enabled Cape Holland to almost even the score in the 8th minute of the third period, 44-43. Jen Kerns' second 3pointer and a 3point-play from Jildis Pronk stretched the gap to 50-43 at the end of the quarter. After Sakova being fouled out Rebecca Maessen scored a trey for Cape Holland to cut the Lions' lead to just one point, 52-51. Next both teams didn't score for four minutes until the 8th minute, when Ingeborg Wijnands put Den Helder in the lead with a short jumper, 52-53. Another score by Cape Holland's Tish Wescott with 16 seconds on the clock was followed by a time out from coach Brian Benjamin, who called an offensive play to set up a shooter for a 3point-attempt. Jen Kerns took the shot with 3 seconds to go, but unfortunately missed. Next game will be played on Thursday in Den Helder.
The Lions cut a 16-points deficit to five but couldn't come any closer losing 60-55 in Den Helder on Sunday in game one of the semifinals. Zuzana Sakova scored 21 points against 7-12 shooting from the floor, but didn't get much offensive help from her teammates, who all got stuck in single digits. Trish Patterson scored 6 points and Jen Kerns had 4 points to go with 4 assists and 4 steals, but also with 7 turnovers. Like playoff games often are, the game was ugly. The Lions shot a not-so-bad 40% from the floor, but attempted just 45 shots, a low since January 3, when they had 42 attempts (their average is 59). That game happens to be the last away game against Cape Holland, who is the best defensive team of the league. 
Zuzana Sakova scored 24 points and grabbed 9 rebounds to lead the ProBuild to an 84-71 victory on Lely Amsterdam. The series now is 2-0 and the Lions move on to the semifinals of the playoffs, where they have to battle Cape Holland Den Helder. The other semifinal is between Dressguard Barendrecht and Perik Jumpers. Like playoff games often are, Saturday's game was kind of ugly but exiting. Three other Lions reached double figures; Trish Patterson scored 15 points, Marte Linthout had 12 and Jennifer Kerns 12. ProBuild shot 57% from the floor and 79% from the free throw line. Molly McDowell scored 25 points for Lely. Like Wednesday the game stayed close for 36 minutes. With four minutes on the clock Trish Patterson had a driving layup to score 74-69. Next Gerda Heinen scored 76-69 and coach Laki Lakner of Lely had to take his last time-out. In the last three minutes the game was decided from the free throw line. Zuzana Sakova hit one free throw and Gerda Heinen made both to stretch the lead to ten points, 79-69, with 75 seconds on the clock. In the last minute of the game Sakova hit three free throws around a score from Lely's Mathilde Parmentier and Jen Kerns made the last two points from the line. Coach Brian Benjamin said his team overcame a slow start to play an excellent fourth quarter. "We are a much deeper team than Lely and that's why we won this series", he said. "Lely's star players Molly McDowell and India Lewis practically have to play the whole game, while we can rotate ten players. In the fourth quarter that makes a difference, especially when you're playing the second game in four days." The Lions now have a whole week to recover. The first game against Cape Holland is scheduled in Den Helder for next Saturday.
Trisha Patterson scored a career-high 22 points to lead the ProBuild Lions to a 65-73 victory on Lely Amsterdam in the first round of the playoffs. The Canadian center was 10-13 from the field and also had 5 rebounds. Most rebounds however were for Slowakian shooting forward Zuzana Sakova, who grabbed 19 boards to go with 12 points. Jen Kerns chipped in with 8 points and 6 assist and Marte Linthout had 10.
Marte Linthout shot 6-7 from behind the arc to finish with 24 points and leading the Lions to a 77-84 victory on second seeded Dressguard Barendrecht. Zuzana Sakava added 19 points. ProBuild's center-duo Trish Patterson and Nadine Boesaart was successful in containing Dressguard's star-center Marloes Roetgerink, holding her to just 7 points and scoreless in the second half. Boesaart scored 9 points and grabbed 9 rebounds, while Trish Patterson had 7 points, 7 steals and 8 rebounds. Jen Kerns contributed 11 points and dished out 7 assists. Coach Brian Benjamin said he was proud of his team. "This time we played with heart and passion and that's why we were successful. I hope we can continue this in the play-offs." In the first round of the Play-Offs, which will begin coming Wednesday, ProBuild will meet either Lely Amsterdam or Perik Jumpers.
ProBuild led by one point into halftime before losing 61-74 to Cape Holland Den Helder. Zuzana Sakova scored 21 points and Marte Linthout had 15. All other players were stuck in single digits. Both teams didn't play their best games of the season. After the first quarter the Lion led 20-18 and by halftime 33-32. In the 7th minute of the third quarter Tish Wescott scored four points to bring Cape Holland to a 40-51 lead and the quarter ended in a 44-57 Lions deficit. In the fourth period ProBuild wasn't able to change anything about that.
Zuzana Sakova scored 25 points and probably played her best game of the season until now as the Lions beat the Bunschoten Shooters, 81-71. The Slowakian forward shot 9-12 from the floor and in the process gathered 7 steals and 5 rebounds. Marte Linthout (17) and Gerda Heinen (16) were the other two Lions in double figures. Jen Kerns scored 8 points and Trish Patterson had 4.
The Lions came out strong, with Zuzana Sakova, Jildis Pronk and Jen Kerns scoring 3-pointers and Trish Patterson making a 3-point play, taking a 12-point lead within the first five minutes, 17-5, and forcing Shooters-coach Jan Bos in a time out. During the game the Lions never trailed.
For the first time this season the ProBuild Lions were victorious against BV Lely, as they snapped a 3-game losing streak in the Amsterdam Apollohal. Zuzana Sakova had 18 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, but the real heroine of the game was Gerda Heinen, who scored 15 points but also limited Lely's star Molly McDowell to 18 points. Jen Kerns chipped in with 13 points and 7 rebounds. Trish Patterson scored 9 points for the Lions.
ProBuild Lions managed to stay in the game for three quarters, but then let it slip away in the last period and lost 73-56 to Perik Jumpers. Just one Lions player got into double figures, Zuzana Sakova, just nearly, with 10 points. Trish Patterson added 9 points and Jen Kerns, Nadine Boesaart and Rachel Witkamp all contributed 8. The Lions started the game with a 11-2 run and Perik needed a quick time-out to get back in the game. The first quarter ended in an 18-20 Lions lead. During most of the second period the teams changed baskets, but in the last minute a free throw and a score from Natalie Hudec took the Jumpers to a 36-31 lead at halftime. Perik's Rhona McKenzie scored six points at the beginning of the third quarter to stretch the lead to 46-35. After a time-out from coach Brian Benjamin the Lions changed to a zone-defense, which took Perik some time to adapt. Rachel Witkamp scored four points to lead the Lions back into the game, 44-50. Next the Jumpers scored, but Jildis Pronk swished a 3-pointer at the end of the quarter, 47-52. In the fourth quarter the Lions had a chance to close the gap even further, when Zuzana Sakova stole the ball and set out for the Perik basket. But somehow she lost the ball again and gave Rhona McKenzie the opportunity to score an easy lay-up, 54-47. McKenzies lay-up sparked an 11-0 Perik run, after which the Lions looked at an 67-50 deficit. The last minutes of the game ProBuild couldn't do much about that.
The Lions led in the fourth quarter, but couldn't stay in control and lost to first seeded Cape Holland Saturday. Jen Kerns scored 17 points; Zuzana Sakova added 15 and Trish Patterson chipped in with 12. Sakova and Patterson both had 7 rebounds.
Coach Brian Benjamin thought his team played well, although he saw his players committing too much turnovers against the press defense Cape Holland played. "Of course we played well, considering we almost beat the top-seeded team in the league. But we're still in a building phase after we added three new players in February. We'll have to stop making these little mistakes on defense, hesitating to much, making wrong decisions, and so on and so forth. I think we still can grow as a team and eventually beat teams like Cape Holland and Dressguard."