Mayo basketball star helps Trinity Meteors to win national league title

Mayo basketball star Hazel Finn and her team Trinity Meteors have been crowned national league champions.

The Irish international from Kiltimagh helped win the club's first ever Domino's Women's Super League title. In a thrilling final in the National Basketball Arena Dublin, Meteors edged a fantastic UCC Glanmire team 87-81 in a game that ebbed and flowed until the final minute.

Neither team was able to build a significant lead over the course of 40 minutes. Each time Meteors had distanced themselves from Glanmire by seven or eight points, the Cork women found a way back into the game.

Trinity's work under the basket paid dividends as center Ava Learn grabbed several offensive rebounds and also added 23 points and two crucial three-pointers  before being rightfully named MVP (Most Valuable Player). 

"I'm tired but it's so amazing and incredible that we could pull it off," Learn said after the match on TG4: "We had so many ups and downs. It was a great game. Glanmire have amazing shooters, very well coached. Our game plan was defence and play hard and that helped us to come out on top."

In fact, rebounding was a key factor in Trinity's win as they were able to get second and even third chances time and time again due to a strong rebounding performance.

Also, Kylie Horstmeyer was inspirational, bringing on huge physicality and athleticism. 

Hazel Finn might not have had her biggest scoring match, but she had many crucial interventions, steals, assists and lay-ups, as well as two clutch free-throws to finish off the game.

Finn had only transferred to Trinity Meteors last summer and in her first year with the team, she has climbed the league mountain. 

Meteors had a decent league campaign, finishing fourth with 10 wins and eight losses. In the semi-final they knocked out the reigning champions Killester BC.

"I'm so proud of her," said her sister Dayna Finn. "Moving to a new team is hard, but the gel that the team has showed, was just superb. Credit to Trinity to hanging in. Hazel should be proud of herself like every other girl on the court. "

After the first quarter, Meteors were up 17-15, especially thanks to three fast-break buckets on a 6-0. Ava Learn grabbed many rebounds for Meteors and helped gain second possession chances for her team. Aisling Moran showed her excellent footwork on two occasion, as she drove to the basket and scored four points. 

It was nip and tuck in the second quarter. Moran had an excellent finish off the glass to give Meteors a 24-22 lead. Finn with her first score made it 30-25 as Glanmire lost their rhythm over that stretch.

Meteors were doing a good job making scoring really hard for the Cork team at that stage, but Glanmire stayed in it and Finn and her teammates took a 39-35 lead into half-time.

The third quarter was a story of runs. Meteors started strongly with billiant passes through to Learn who got an open layup. Three offensive rebounds in a row end up with two points, and another offensive grab by Learn left Meteors 47-42 up. She followed it up with a wide open three, to put Meteors ahead 50-42.

However, the see-saw nature of the game continued, as Glanmire hit the reset button after a time-out to go on an 11-0 run and take a 53-52 lead.

Meteors then hit a little purple patch of their own, with two buckets and a brilliant steal from Finn, that led to two further fastbreak points. Finn drew the foul for a successful three-point play and it was 59-54 to Meteors at the end of the third.

Meteors kept the foot on the gas and had a blistering start into the fourth quarter. A steal from Learn led to two easy points, so did an exquisite assist from Finn for another easy two-pointer. Meteors were on a roll and up 69-59. 

Yet again, Glanmire wouldn't just go away. A four-point-play from McKenna closed the gap to 71-67 with six minutes left to play. Meteors were able to keep a small lead, however, when Horstmeyer hit a mid-range shot to make it 81-77 with 1:37min to go, Meteors had the advantage going into crunch time. 

Finn won a crucial turnover in defence, keeping Meteors 81-78 ahead with 1:08min to go. Glanmire switched to a full court press now and forced a Meteors turnover.

Treiliha turned it over again for Meteors and Ava Learn got fouled to stop the clock. She kept her calm and scored both free-throws. Glanmire responded with a quick three-pointer.

Horstmeyer then crucially with the 85-81 and then Finn was fouled and sent to the free-throw line. She made both to end the game at 87-81. 

After winning the national cup last season with her previous team FloMAX Liffey Celtic, Hazel Finn has now claimed the other big title in Irish basketball.

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