Long wait over as ‘proud’ Comets finally become champions

Although the reds still have one league match remaining, their latest victory against key rivals Ravenscroft – a 50-41 triumph – at Beau Sejour secured them an insurmountable lead and the right to an early celebration.

It is an achievement that captain Emilie Batiste admitted they had been targeting for a good while.

‘For years we’ve been aiming for the league title and came so close in the previous season, only missing out from a loss by a single point,’ she said.

‘So to now have achieved this finally is amazing and makes us all very proud to be a part of this lovely team.

‘Our coach, Lucas [Ozanne], brings great enthusiasm, knowledge and strength to our team – we couldn’t have done it without him. It is also great to have the support of assistant coach Harry [Gent].’

Comets allowed the particularly skilful Ieva Babina to shoulder their scoring and she did not let them down, finishing on 17 points.

But even she could not match the prolificacy of 21-point scorer Katie Margetts.

Comets pushed clear in the first quarter by scoring 11 points and restricting Ravens to six.

This was telling of their strong defensive performance, focused on prohibiting three-pointers, which for Ravens would typically come from their two Emmas – Sykes and Hicks.

However, quarter two showed a reversal of this as the black-and-whites fought back and established the smallest of leads, hitting half-time 22-21 up.

Comets’ determination showed in the second half.

They won quarter three 14-10 to get back above their rivals and saw the game out strongly, furnished with a late flourish by Liene Rozlapa – who dominated the scoreboard for them in the final minutes.

‘Through our great effort defensively we managed to stop their three-point shooting, especially in the final quarters, and we ended up ahead.

‘It was a very close game and could have gone either way.’

Comets have only lost once in their 11 matches this season – a pre-Christmas defeat to Ravens.

And so they ride a wave of strong form into the women’s knock-outs, which will take place over the next two weeks.