Final match of the Czech Women's Basketball Cup: BK Žabiny Brno – Levhartice Chomutov, February 26, 2023, Chomutov.
Chomutov – The Brno Žabin basketball players defeated Chomutov 88:66 in the final of the Czech Cup and defended last year's triumph. Coach Viktor Pruši's girls won a valuable trophy for the nineteenth time in history. The best scorer of the old champions was Petra Záplatová with 21 points. Her teammate Natálie Stoupalová recorded a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds and won the Final Four Most Valuable Player award. Even the 22 points of captain Michaela Krejzová were not enough for the home Lions. Bronze was won by Slovanka, who beat Ostrava 93:85.
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“I don't want to say it quite like that, but winning the cup was a kind of fulfilled duty for us. The teams that could have been expected were not here, and we were paper favorites among those participants. But we are happy,” said Stoupalová in a press release. “We suspected that it wouldn't be easy with Chomutov. He played at home and the fans were chasing him. It's good that we managed it and won by such a big margin,” she added.
In the absence of league hegemon USK Praha, the Frogs confirmed their role as favorites and triumphed in the cup for the third time in the last four seasons. The second team of the league competition defeated Chomutov for the ninth time in a row and the third time this season. “We clearly deserved to win today. I'm glad that we did it with such a big difference and confirmed the role of the favorite of the tournament,” the website of the Brno club quoted Záplatová .
The Leopards made it to the final of the cup for the first time in history and wanted to take advantage of the home environment again after their semi-final success over Slovanka. Zabiny, however, didn't allow for surprises from the start and had a clear 26:8 lead after the first quarter. Záplatová and Bria Holmes contributed to the lead with eight points.
“The coach warned us before the game that it is never good to lead by a lot from the very beginning, which was confirmed. We played a very good first quarter and fulfilled everything, what we wanted. We were aggressive in defense and punished mistakes. Of course, we can't keep that pace for the whole match, but otherwise we controlled it the whole time,” said Záplatová.
In the next course, the reigning league vice-champions increased their lead and led by up to 30 points (76:46) in the fourth quarter. Chomutov corrected the score at the end, but Žabiny celebrated a clear victory after the final horn. “We have a long journey ahead of us, so we'll see how we can handle it. If it starts on the bus, or if it's celebrated only in Brno. We're definitely not going to sleep right after returning,” added Stoupalová.
Slovanka won the duel for third place and won her first cup medal. Although the eighth team in the league lost the first quarter to Ostrava 14:25, they came back within range by halftime and took the win for their side in a dramatic ending. Not even Adela Smutná's 34 points helped Ostrava.
“Now we feel great. After the start of the game, I wouldn't have believed in our victory, but since the New Year, the team has gone downhill. We started working a little differently and the players went for the victory today ,” said Slovanka's assistant Petr Stavěl. “Today it was about morale and we lasted the whole match. Ostrava then paid for the fouls, which helped us a little. It was about who would have more strength until the end, and that was us,” he added.< /p>
Final tournament of the Czech women's basketball cup in Chomutov:
Finals:
Žabiny Brno – Chomutov 88:66 (26:8, 48 :29, 70:43)
Most points: Záplatová 21, Kneževičová 16, Stoupalová 13 – Krejzová 22, Wynnová-Pollardová 10, Fučíková 7.
For 3rd place:< /p>
Slovanka – SBŠ Ostrava 93:85 (14:25, 41:44, 64:64)
Most points: Ondroušková 19, Colemanová and Domuzinová 18 each – Smutná 34, Wilkinsonová 13 , Rašková 11.
