London Lions Women's Team will be looking to complete the first half of the perfect day for the club on Sunday when they face Newcastle Eagles in the WBBL Play-off final.
It's a unique situation in British basketball with two clubs providing both finalists in the season's biggest day and women's coach Mark Clark is excited about the chance to play in this season's showdown: "Obviously it's the biggest game of the season, and it's great for the organisation to have both teams in the final" said Clark, who has previously coached England and Great Britain women as well as London Leopards in both their BBL and Division One days.
"The Lions have been there with the men, I've been there with different and we've made the Trophy final with Lions but this has been a huge season for the club and players, and we're looking to end the season as the last team standing.
"I think if we can win two pieces of silverware in a difficult season it would mean that we could claim to be the number one team. The organisation has built a successful team from scratch, and that's a testament to the players and the support we've received.
"The most important thing is that right from day one we decided we would play at a tempo that suits the players and the players would understand their role in the team. The team wanted to play an up-tempo style and we've tried to play in as exciting a way as we can. We have the best player in the league in Kennedy Leonard, we have the best shooter in Cassie Breen, and the best defensive player in Shanice Beckford-Norton. On top of that we managed to bring back Chantel Charles who was with us at the academy, and in Ines Goryanova we have the youngest player to be getting decent minutes in the WBBL."
Although the Lions have a pair of double-digit wins against the Eagles in the regular season, the north east have the big story of the WBBL play-offs, beating the top two sides who finished ahead of the London side - Sevenoaks Suns and Leicester Riders - to reach the final.
Clark expects a tough game against the north east side: "They're well coached with Chris [Bunten] having already won championships" he said.
"Sometimes it gets easier with a short rotation, the players pull together , they don't have to worry about their minutes and they get some momentum. After beating the top two they probably think they could beat LA Lakers and Sparks at the moment, and I think we've all seen before that a team with belief can be a very dangerous opponent."
Clark had praise for everyone who has helped British basketball have a 2020/21 season: as well as the Lions' organisation "I think the support from the WBBL, the clubs and Sport England has been remarkable" he said.
"We've got through the season and we're running May Madness which - in a time when everything has been incredibly difficult - the league has grown in stature.
"Our resilience and quality shown by the players and everyone at the London Lions has made this happen. It's been challenging but fun because we have some great people involved and they enjoy being part of a team together. We want to be the biggest women's team in the country and play in Europe.
"I hope that Sunday's final is another step towards that."
Sunday's WBBL final is live on Sky Sports Arena at 3:00pm, followed by the BBL final at 5:30pm on the same channel.
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