As some said, playing two games on one day was not to the advantage of the injury-plagued ProBuild Lions.
It turned out not to be a problem.
ProBuild put Challenge Sports/Binnenland.Rotterdam aside with a surprising ease. The Lions beat Binnenland 63-81.
Ilana Vergunst led ProBuild with 24 points, including three 3-pointers. Molly McDowell and Kati Harty both came close to a triple double. McDowell had 23 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assist. Kati Harty contributed 21 points, 9 steals and 8 rebounds. Harty played through a light ankle-sprain.
Coach Laki Lakner said he was proud of his team. "We showed heart. This team never gives up, we simply do not want to lose. The last month we asked a lot of some players and they handled it quite well. This is a great victory."
Binnenland took a 12-3 lead, but ProBuild hit four 3-pointers (McDowell, Harty, Vergunst 2x) to change it to 18-23 after the quarter.
In the second period Binneland took the lead again, 31-27, but ProBuild used a 0-13 run to make in 31-40. At the break the Lions led 36-43.
Binnenland had no answer to ProBuild's zone defense, as the third quarter painfully showed. Binnenland committed many turnovers, and the Lions used easy lay-ups to widen the margin to a maximum of 40-63. Binnenland did not score for six whole minutes.
ProBuild led 42-63 at the start of the 4th period and cruised to the end. Coach Laki Lakner put all his players on the court. Eline Vink hit a pair of free throws to seal the 81-63 win. A few minutes later Molly McDowell was able to show the new-won Cup to the fans.
ProBuild Lions had no trouble reaching the finals of the Final Four tournament, beating HLB Accountants 72-55. Within a few hours the Lions will meet Challenge Sports/Binnenland.Rotterdam, who reached the Finals with a win over CTO Amsterdam.
Kati Harty suffered a light ankle sprain in the third period. It is still unsure if she will be able to play in the finals.
Maaike van de Bovenkamp led the Lions with 15 points. Molly McDowell scored 14 points and had 8 assists. Kati Harty had 13 points, all in the first quarter. Belinda Bos contributed 8 points and 11 rebounds.
ProBuild never trailed and led 25-15 after the first period. Dewi Keppy hit two 3-pointers in the second to help putting the Lions up 48-32 at intermission.
In the third period Maaike van de Bovenkamp nailed a trey to mark the largest lead of the game, 59-34. After this ProBuild slowed down a little and cruised.
Coming weekend the Lions are off to Barendrecht near Rotterdam to participate in the Final Four tournament.
This year's is the 17th edition of the tournament. ProBuild joined the elite four teams of the league for the first time in 1996 and participated ten times since that year, including six straight times from 2005 on.
The Lions won four times. Last season, when the tournament took place in Landsmeer, they beat HLB Accountants in the Finals. Kati Harty shined with 37 points that game.
This year ProBuild meets HLB in the semifinals on Friday, 9 PM. The other matchup is the home team Challenge Sports/Binnenland.Rotterdam vs CTO Amsterdam.
The winners battle each other in the Finals on Saturday.
Braakman Financiële dienstverlening
Ruud en Marjan Nassette
Hans Larooi
Vincent Post
mevr Roele
Inge Schaft
Tine Sierink en
Henk Wals
Hans van Veen
mevr de Vries
Anneke Wals en
Ferdinand v. Veen
