A great end of the Women’s Final Four, home team Piešťany the winner
The duel between the current Slovak champion and runner-up belonged mainly to the players of Piešťany. Except for a short moment in the beginning, it was basically a start-goal victory for them. “I think it was a very good defensive work from our side. However, we have to admit that Banská Bystrica had an important player injured on Saturday, the point guard Božica Mujović, and her absence was felt. We still did a very good job defensively. Then came the offense. At the beginning of the second half we got stuck a bit, we started very slowly, but as time went by we got going and it was good. I’m glad that basically every single player who was on the bench made an impact on the game and we were able to enjoy the victory,” said Piešťany coach Peter Jankovič.
The duels between Piešťany and Slávia are among the best that Slovakia women’s basketball has to offer lately. At the Federal Cup in Piešťany in January, Čajky triumphed in the semi-finals, Banská Bystrica recently enjoyed the Slovak Cup, so the motivation was taken care of on both sides. “This season it looks like we are only playing Slávia. It’s still different games, but the motivation is always great. We are athletes, we want to win. We were very disappointed with the Slovak Cup, so I’m happy that we won this cup. I haven’t won this league yet, so I’m looking forward to it. So I have another one to add to my collection,” said home player Anna Jurčenková happily.
She and her teammates had a less than ideal weeks, but they made up for it with their success at the Final Four of the Alpe Adria Cup. “That’s how we always want to play, responsible in defence and playing fast up front. We did that especially in the first half. It’s still about defending, that’s the alpha and omega. We only allowed our opponents to score 48 points, which is a fantastic number. I’m happy about that. But we have to keep working. It’s not going to be easy, Banská Bystrica hasn’t said the last word yet. We shouldn’t think that it will go by itself. If we work very responsibly and work until the end of the season, I firmly believe that the greatest success that is expected will come,” said Jankovič.
The final duel participants themselves were very appreciative of the atmosphere in which the first edition of the Alpe Adria Cup Women culminated, more than 600 people attended the game. Piešťany made history by adding a new winner’s trophy to its collection of successes. “Excellent atmosphere, as always at such meetings. The spectators helped us especially when we got a bit stuck, when they drove us forward. I’m glad we could thank them with the victory and the overall triumph in the Alpe Adria Cup. I firmly believe that this will help us and give us a kick-start. As the Slovak Cup put us down, the Alpe Adria Cup could give us a boost. We still have a tough schedule ahead of us, we have two tough games ahead of us and we are still fighting for position before the playoffs. We can look forward, but Monday is a new day and nobody will be asking how it went. So we need to keep focusing on our work,” the coach of Piešťany concluded in his evaluation.