Wismilak CLS retains league title for 5th time
Wismilak CLS retains league title for 5th time
JAKARTA (JP): Wismilak CLS of Surabaya proved itself the real
champion after a 45-42 victory over home team Mahaputri Aspac in
the final of the 2000 Rexona women's Kobatama national basketball
league on Saturday.
With the result, CLS has retained the league title for five
consecutive years plus the 1999 Megawati Soekarnoputri Cup.
In an earlier game, Rajawali of Bandung defeated Sahabat of
Surabaya 58-52 to claim third place at Sumantri Brodjonegoro
sports hall on Jl. Rasuna Said, South Jakarta.
CLS' senior player Sherly Humardani was named the best stealer
and center Vivi Puspa Sari as the top scorer of the league.
Mahaputri's captain Puspa Indah Pamungkasari was announced as the
Most Valuable Player.
Tasia Albertina of Rajawali was named the top rebounder and
her senior, Joan Suryana, was the top assist player. Law Siau Fei
of Sahabat Surabaya was named the top blocker.
The Cup was handed over to CLS team by the chairman of the
Indonesian Basketball Association (Perbasi) and Jakarta Governor
Sutiyoso.
Sahabat, led by seasoned women's player, Endang Suharsari, led
Rajawali in the first quarter but unfortunately it was short of
good shooters.
Rajawali's point guard Jane Johan scored 10 points and
Ciauliana contributed two other to end the first quarter 17-11.
Jane and Ciauliana were members of the West Java women's
basketball team in the 2000 National Games (PON) in June.
It was Jane who helped her club to move ahead in the second
quarter. She added nine points to take Rajawali ahead 30-21.
Rajawali's center, Yenny Arlina, rebounded well and scored seven
points. Ciauliana contributed two points.
In the next quarter, Endang started to heat up and made nine
points but her teammate failed to contribute. She made 10
rebounds but the team could not keep up with Rajawali.
Sahabat scored 18 points to narrow the loss while Rajawali was
adding 13 but Sahabat could not catch Rajawali, which extended
its lead in the third quarter 43-39.
Rajawali then started its shooting spree. Yenny was awarded
two free throws which brought her team to 49-43.
Sahabat's coach M. Arifin blamed his team loss to
inexperience.
"Only Endang has experience playing on the national team. The
others are young and the team was only organized a few months
before the league started," he said after the match.
"I'm quite satisfied with the team's performance because we
can avoid relegation. But I'm not happy with the result. We
should have won," he said.
While Rajawali coach Suryanti expressed her hope that the
team's performance could attract sponsors.
"We are purely amateur. We can't buy high profile players or
shower the players with bonuses when they win," she said, adding
that the team had improved its rank from fourth last year to
third. (ivy)