The City of Edinburgh were crowned U18 Women’s champions in the second game of the day as they took the 58-40 victory over Boroughmuir Blaze.

The under-18 Women were up next on the Oriam floor in an all Edinburgh derby as City of Edinburgh Kool Kats took on Boroughmuir Blaze. Kool Kats felt confident going into the game as they were the number 1 seed through the Playoffs and won the Scottish Cup in January and not losing a game all season, however, Blaze were a close 2nd seed and have a strong team with plenty of talent.

Caledonia Pride duo Shawnisay Millar and Pollyanna Storie got their respective teams on the scoreboard with strong finishing inside. Sian Phillips also announced herself at the Bucket Party halfway through the first period and got her Blaze squad off to an 8-2 lead. Pollyanna proved pivotal to her team and managed to keep the scoreboard ticking over and pull Kool Kats back into the game late in the 1st quarter and led 12-11 at the end of 1.

Turnovers became an issue for Edinburgh as they failed to get the ball out of their own half despite holding Blaze scoreless through the first 5 minutes of the 2nd and getting out to a 20-11 lead as they called a timeout to regroup. Things slowed down for both teams offensively as the defence tightened and Kats held a24-15 lead at halftime.

The 3rd quarter started on an even track for both teams as they matched each other as Kats held their lead 24-25 at the halfway mark, Storie picked up her 4th foul of the afternoon that attracted a strong “ooh” from the crowd in appreciation for the Pride Star being subbed out in foul trouble. Kats clawed their way into the Blaze key time and time again but could not stop Boroughmuir blazing down the other end on the fastbreak. The 3rd quarter ended with Blaze trailing 43-32.

Celina Eisenhardt played heartbreaker as she sunk a deep 3 to start the 4th period and pushed the Kats lead to 46-32. Blaze’s elite trio of Brown, Millar and Phillips did not prove enough to stop the Kool Kats as they looked for a trio of their own of Cup, League and Playoffs. Eisenhardt took her 2nd blow of the game and had to be substituted out as Storie made her return to the game. With 3:52 left on the clock and down 18, Coach Mounsey called a timeout to re-galvanise his girls to make a final push for the Playoff Finals title. It proved worthwhile immediately as they raced down the court and Millar score the and-1 resulting in Storie fouling out of the game. The gap proved too much for Boroughmuir Blaze to overcome as City of Edinburgh Kool Kats took the 2018 Playoff Final title 58-40.

Pollyanna Storie was the top scorer with 23 points and 10 rebounds for CoE Kool Kats and Sian Phillips with 14 points and 21 rebounds for Boroughmuir Blaze.

Tia Davies picked up the Molten Sports MVP award.