Edinburgh Kool Kats complete League and Cup double

Edinburgh Kool Kats completed the double by winning the Scottish Cup

Point guard Findlay top-scored with 20 points including four three-pointers, as Kats moved smoothly through the four quarters untroubled, leading 24-7 after the first and 40-20 at half-time.

It was their eighth senior trophy and they owed it mainly to excellent defence.

Nicola McBrierty added 17 points and nearly had another double double, her rebounds total of nine being one short, while Leanne Page added 15 and seven rebounds.

Kats were able to introduce four of the juniors who had held off Boroughmuir Blazein the junior women’s final on Saturday.

Tia Davies, Niamh Mackle, Casey Morrison and Zoe Gibson all had court spells, Davies the most with just under 10 minutes.

Yhana Van Wees led the Tayside scoring with 16 points and 15 rebounds, Paul Foster adding 10.

Meanwhile, it was a day of double disappointment for Boroughmuir Blaze.

First their junior women just failed to catch Edinburgh Kool Kats after an exciting fightback from 16 down at half-time, Kats winning 65-58.

Then Blaze were outlasted 59-54 by Falkirk Fury in the senior men’s final when the issue was in doubt until nine seconds to go when veteran Keith Bunyan sank two free throws.

That gave Fury their third success in four years but it was a bitter defeat for Blaze who had been hoping to give their Lithuanian stalwart Tomas Cicenas a rousing send-off in his last game for the team, who wore green warm-up tee-shirts with his No.14 on their backs as a tribute.

Cicenas, an integral part of the team’s recent success, flew back from Canada where he is now working but either the occasion got to him or he was severely jet-lagged for he failed to register a single point and spent most of the first and third quarters on the bench.

“We weren’t expecting a lot from Tomas as he’d only played one game in seven weeks,” explained Blaze coach Simon Turner.

“Losing hurts but it doesn’t change how we feel about the team and we wanted to recognise Tomas’ contribution to the club.

“We did that with our effort in the second half.”

Blaze captain Eoghann Dover led by example with 23 points, which included four from seven threes, though no-one else managed double figures, Jordan Green adding nine and John Browne, who also had 10 rebounds, eight.

Austrian Adam Hammerschmidt deservedly took the MVP award as he hit three second half threes in a 26-point tally as Fury, 32-29 up at half-time, opened up a 52-35 gap at the end of a the third quarter.

Bunyan and the wily Greg Fousas both added eight.

But Blaze, despite injuries to both Dover and Cicenas, closed the gap to just one basket in a tense final minute when both teams were going to the line.