SIGNS EXPRESS FURY 56 BOROUGHMUIR BLAZE 53Scottish Cup Final Junior Woman

Falkirk Signs Express Fury showed the calibre and quality of their Woman's program when their U18 Junior Woman's team defeated Scottish Cup Final favourites Boroughmuir Blaze in a hotly contested and exciting match. The 3pt win and 56 -53 score line saw Fury turnaround 20 and 30 point losses to the capital side in the League. The Final brought together the teams that are 1 and 2 in the JW Scottish Division 1 but it was Coach Kim Hunter's side who got off to the best start. Fury had 4 different scorers as they went out to a 10 - 2 opening lead with Blaze not getting a second basket till half way through the opening quarter. As Blaze pushed back into the game, Fury's star point guard Beth Snedden hit a great 2pt play to keep Fury out in front at 13 -8. However a 10 - 3 Blaze run in the final two minutes of the quarter gave Blaze the lead for the first time in the game at 18 - 16. The second saw poor finishing by both teams with Blaze picking up 2pts to make the score 20 - 16 after 4 minutes of play. Things looked ominous for Fury as Blaze stretched their lead to 11 pts at 27 -16 until a Daisy Lawson basket sparked a Fury run. MVP of the game Rachel Dagger and then talented Cadette Becky McLeod then added to the Fury tally bringing the game back to 3pts at 27 - 24. Rachel Dagger continued her scoring spree from the free throw line and Becky McLeod put Fury ahead at 28 - 27 after a stunning 12 - 0 Fury run. It was McLeod who scored again in the final seconds of the second period to give the Falkirk side a 31 -30 half time lead and a 15 - 3 run that showed the game was possibly going to the final whistle. The third saw Poppy Duncan, Beth Snedden and Leila Gillespie put points on the board as Fury moved to 38 - 31 ahead with 6 minutes of the period remaining. The remainder of the 3rd saw Blaze go on a 13 - 4 run and take a 44 - 42 into the final quarter with both teams having all to play for. An 8 - 3 run for Fury at the start of the 4th saw once again 4 different Fury scorers hit early - Poppy Duncan, Daisy Lawson, Beth Snedden and Becky Mcleod, with Fury moving 50 - 47 clear with 6 minutes remaining. Leila Gillespie, a first year Fury junior, then gave her side a 5pt lead. Blaze reduced the gap to 3 and with just under 4 to play tied the game, until Fury's U16 star Becky McLeod again put Fury ahead at 54 -52. A made Blaze free throw made it a 1 pt game with 2.47 left in the game. But it was the games MVP Rachel Dagger who dealt the 'dagger blow' to Blaze with a 2pt play with 1 minute remaining. But with Blaze missing from the line and turning the ball over in that final minute it was Fury who took the win and the Scottish Cup against the multiple International player side.

The big stats that were key for the Falkirk club, saw Fury hit 8 from 17 and going 47% from the free throw line with Blaze scoring 9 of 30 from the charity stripe for a 30% stat. Fury had 94 shots at the basket with Blaze on 81. For Fury, Rachel Dagger led her team with 16pts and 13 rebounds for a double - double. Cadette Becky McLeod had 10pts personal with Daisy Lawson on 9 pts and 9 rebounds. Leila Gillespie and Beth Sneddon shared 16 with Sneddon also pulling down 14 rebounds. Captain Poppy Duncan had a big game inside with 5pts and 11 rebounds. Completing Fury's line up were Jess Cram who played a solid 12 minutes off the bench and Hannah Johnson, Ava Wells and Ruby Cruickshanks.

Fury's JW Coach Kim Hunter & Assistant Coach David Hunter commentated to Heraldsport after the Cup Final win -

"Going into the game we believed we could win, we have an amazing group of players, the majority of whom have played together since U12 basketball. The chemistry is excellent and everyone has contributed in the run to the final and in practice. Beth once again showed what an amazing guard she is. Blaze threw multiple different players at her but it made no difference she delivered. Rachel, Becky and Leila are three very athletic players and they all gave a huge amount for us to get the win. Daisy once again showed Blaze what a big player she is and really sums up the energy our team had in the Final. Poppy was extra aggressive and really dominated at both ends off the floor in the paint. Jess came in and kept our momentum going and the girls on the bench have all contributed during the season, so it's a real pleasure to work with such a great group of players. We looked at a lot of different tactics and options in practice and it was great to see these come through especially in that final quarter where we held, basically a National team to 9pts."