U18 Women win National Cup

U18 Women’s Sure Shot National Cup Final: Endeavour Ipswich Basketball 75-56 Nottingham Wildcats

Ipswich eased their way to the U18 Women's Sure Shot National Cup with a straight-forward 75-56 victory against Nottingham Wildcats on Saturday.

A back-and-forth first half was controlled by Ipswich, who led 39-33 at the break. Quality was in short supply in a 14-9 third quarter, and that left Nottingham too much to do as Ipswich finally pulled away across the last 10 minutes.

Photo: Luke Simcock / Basketball England

There was no doubt about the game's MVP as Ipswich standout Maisie Keyes got the nod by some distance. With 18 points and 12 rebounds, the talented guard added nine assists and seven steals for a true impact performance before her departure at season's end for The University of Vermont.

Forward Holly Ensoll (14pts, 14reb) and Jahveina Whyte (15pts, 7reb, 7ast) both played well in support, and 13-year-old sensation Natalia Lawicka announced herself on the big stage with a 14-point outing that involved a pair of three-pointers.

Ophelia Larder-Lee's 28 points led all scorers for Nottingham, but it wouldn't be enough to stop Ipswich from becoming the joint-most prolific team in this competition, tying CoLA with five wins.

"It's amazing. We've got a great team, we've got three younger ones in [the squad] today and they all stepped up," said Keyes.

"I think it's amazing for us to come out here today, show what we can do and have such a big result that we needed heading into the last half of the season."

Ipswich head coach Harriet Welham added: "It's epic. This feeling will never get boring and we'll never take it for granted.

"We're just a [club] in a small town in Suffolk and we're winning national championships. It never gets old."