Stateside beat Pumas in thriller to seal women’s basketball championship

Stateside squeaked through in dramatic fashion on Friday night to win the top-division local basketball championship in a thrilling grand final.

They left it late to beat Pumas, sealing a 49-43 win in the dying minutes of the game and sparking celebrations on the court.

The sides were neck and neck with three minutes to go, only for Amy Williamson and Charlotte Kennedy to sink three-pointers to effectively put the game to bed before Williamson put the icing on the cake with 1 minute and 20 seconds on the clock.

Kennedy was top scorer on the night with 21 points and Williamson ended with 16.

Abbie MacDonald got eight points and Kelsie Crowe and Paige Adams got the rest.

They were both effective from range, with three three-pointers each.

The Teakle sisters were back in action together for Pumas, with Julia getting 11 points and Tiani scoring seven.

Caitlin Wilson scored 10 points.

It was a creditable effort for Pumas as they also made the second division final in the women’s and the first and second division finals in the men’s. They ultimately only took home the win in the men’s division two.

In junior action last week, the news was better for Pumas, showing the strong lineup of upcoming players in their ranks.

They won the boys’ and girls’ under-18 top-division finals.

The boys beat Chapman Valley 41-38 on Tuesday and the girls beat Trades Trades 30-14.