London Lions women's coach Mark Clark was delighted after his side lifted the WBBL Championship crown with a 93-71 victory against Newcastle Eagles, on Sunday.
"Obviously we're incredibly happy to be the last team standing" he said.
"I think everyone put on a great show which should help the WBBL's profile. But the really pleasing thing is this is the beginning of something big and we believe that if we can play in Europe next season it will not only help the Lions, it will help the WBBL and be good for the game in this country. The enthusiasm and commitment from 777 {Partners] has been truly amazing and it has put us in a position to take women's basketball to a new level in Britain"
Clark was delighted that his team performed how he had planned: "We set out to play at a high tempo for the full 40 minutes because we believed we could get them into a situation where they'd run out of steam. We knew at some point that, with only five players in their rotation we'd be able to put a run together. We responded well to challenges, when they tied the game at 51 it could have gone either way and they were playing with the belief they could cause another upset. But the 14-0 run we answered with put us in control and effectively won the game for us.
"Shanice [Beckford-Norton] played superbly, it wasn't just the 30 points, it was all things that don't show on the stat sheet. It must be a long time since someone got a triple-double in a final without getting the MVP but Kennedy [Leonard] had another excellent game. Our three guard line-up always causes problems for teams because any of them can be a game-winner on any day, and whole teams are chasing Cassie Breen around the court, she's opening up space for other players to score.
"Everyone contributed to keeping the tempo high, Chantelle Charles held things together brilliantly for us and Ines had a nice cameo role in a season where she's been exceptional while Stephanie [Umeh] is tremendous off the bench for us and can play big minutes whenever we need her to."
With Charles and Beckford-Norton having come through Barking Abbey Academy, gone to university and then returned to London, Clark is pleased with how the club continues to produce young talent: "It's great for Chantelle and Shanice to come back and help win a title at at a pro level. We have five academy players on the roster so it really is a Barking generated team"
Clark is now looking to the future as the Lions look to build off a campaign that also saw them win the WBBL Trophy: "We've had a great season and we're looking to build on that and continue to move women's basketball forward."
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