Piešťanské Čajky – Slávia Banská Bystrica 76:48 (20:13, 16:9, 17:15, 23:11)
Referees: Ženiš, Margala, Uhrin (all Slovakia)
Attendance: 620
Scorers – Piešťany: James 21, Mandić 10, Jurčenková 9, Taušová 8, Herminjard and Mitrasinović each 7, Kraislová and Stašová each 6, Vandlíková 2, Chovaníková, Moravčíková and Uhlíková 0
Scorers – Banská Bystrica: Bogičević 14, Striešová 10, da Cruz 7, Brabencová and Bura each 6, Pulliam 3, Užovičová 2, Holíková and Podhradská 0
The final of the Alpe Adria Cup was played in a great atmosphere, with both teams fighting hard from the first second. The rivalry between the teams was evident on the floor, with low scoring on both sides in the early stages and no shortage of hard fought battles. Neither team was able to break away from their opponents for long, the small details were the deciding factor. Piešťany got to their game, everything came from the defensive end and they could rely on Mandić and James in the offense. They also had more energy and teamwork on their side, they helped themselves significantly with a 10-point streak. After the first quarter, the home team led 20:12. The second period followed a similar pattern, with a slower start at first, but then the offensive action got into full swing. Slávia tried to do something about the unfavourable situation with tactical changes, but the Čajky had James or other players with shooting ability in their ranks. Therefore, the gap started to widen and the home team gained more and more confidence. This was reflected in the half-time score – 36:22.
The third quarter didn’t bring many basketball moments, both teams struggled to increase their scoring for a long time. Piešťany managed to control their difference from Banská Bystrica, although there were some small lapses of concentration. Gradually, the offensive tempo picked up again, with the home team benefiting more from the team’s team play. The visiting players had a tough task ahead of them if they still wanted to get the winning trophy, as they were down 37:53 before the last quarter. The final decision came right from the start, with 6 points in a row for the Čajky to get their lead over the 20-point mark. There was no more drama in the end, so Piešť’any could celebrate in front of their fans the new trophy for their collection.
Post-game quotes:
Peter Jankovič, coach of Piešťany: “Famous, I’m excited. It’s a big win for us after a bit of a rough patch. I believe we have kick-started ourselves with this win. The first edition of the women’s Alpe Adria Cup belongs to us, so really happy. I firmly believe that we will enjoy it even more.”
Anna Jurčenková, player of Piešťany: “Great, we are looking forward to it. It’s an important win, we were very disappointed after the Slovak Cup. We had a bit of a quiet period after that, but I’m glad that we pulled together, fought hard and I’m glad that we were able to beat them with our team performance.”
Ke’shunan James, Final Four MVP: “It’s a great feeling, but I wouldn’t have gotten this award without my teammates. They supported me, they trusted me to take on important roles. It’s hard for me to find the words to be in the position I’m in right now. I’m the MVP of the Final Four tournament, I owe it to my teammates.”
Zuzana Žirková, coach of Banská Bystrica: “First of all, congratulations to the opponent for doing it in the home environment. I’m not so much sorry about the game, it was very difficult for us with the line-up we had. We added another injury, so this game is completely irrelevant for us. It turned out the way it did, we’re now minus four pieces, that bothers me more.”
Lucia Striešová, player of Banská Bystrica: “We’re definitely disappointed, but I think we did the best we could given the state our squad is in right now. You can always do better, but I think it started first with the fact that we had a little bit of a problem on the faceoff where we kind of messed up a little bit. Overall, we couldn’t quite get into that game, then the defensive mistakes took over. It was probably what we were due for right now.”
Final standings of Final Four Alpe Adria Cup Women season 2023/2024:
- Piešťanské Čajky
- Slávia Banská Bystrica
- ŽKK Triglav
- KAŽL Split
