WBBL TROPHY: LIONS DIM SUNS

London Lions retained the WBBL Trophy with a 72-36 destruction of Sevenoaks Suns.

Dominant in the final, it was one-way traffic from the point where London ended the opening half on a 7-0 run that propelled them 33-23 ahead.

Just for starters.

A 20-2 burst in the third killed the game off as a contest as Lions’ defence throttled and then garrotted their rivals.

The game’s MVP Holly Winterburn had 16 points, and Jo Leedham added 14, but it was a wave of constant pressure that delivered.

“When we play defence like we did in the second half, we are hard to stop,” said Lions head coach Mark Clark.

“Once we got it out to a double-digit lead, we were very good. But we kept it up.

“After half-time, Jo dived on the floor for a loose ball. When she does that, no one else can have an excuse. She’s an unbelievable player.”

Although both sides remain unbeaten in their two-way scrap for the WBBL Championship, they have yet to square off on that front.

This was a performance that suggests the capital outfit will be acquiring a quadruple clean sweep by the season’s close.

“It’s one game at a time,” said Clark, with the league re-match coming next Friday. “But we are tough to play against.”

Cat Carr paced Sevenoaks with 12 points but the Suns were held to a mere 16-58 from the field.

“The first half was when we really lost it,” said Suns guard Renee Busch. “We could have matched up with them better. And I just felt that played with a little more intensity than we did.”

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Image: Mansoor Ahmed