NEWCASTLE Hunters saved their best for last to crush the Canberra Nationals 86-61 in the Waratah Basketball League women's grand final at Breakers Indoor Sports Stadium in Terrigal on Sunday.
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The Hunters never trailed in a one-sided decider to secure their second Waratah League championship in four seasons, having defeated Illawarra on the same floor to win the 2016 title.
In a fitting finale to their all-conquering campaign, Newcastle swept aside Hornsby Spiders 77-53 in their semi-final on Saturday to qualify for the grand final against the Nationals.
Hornsby and Canberra were the only two teams to beat Newcastle all year - on successive weekends last month - but the Hunters learnt their lessons and avenged both losses.
Newcastle led by as many 42 points midway through the third quarter and by 74-37 heading into the final period in their best performance of a dominant season.
"I think perfection is the right word," said Newcastle coach Shannon Seebohm, who will leave this week to take up the head coaching position at Women's National Basketball League club Townsville.
"We've been building towards that and we've seen glimpses of it all season, but that's something I've been challenging the girls with, to play with that effort and intensity the entire game, and our execution on offence was perfect today.
"That was our goal from the start of the year, and I'm thrilled that we were able to deliver on that and hopefully now people aren't as salty that we're leaving."
Newcastle captain Jaimee Seebohm (11 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals), one of five Hunters players to score in double figures, was named grand final Most Valuable Player.
"I said it to the girls at the end there, we really did save our best for last," Jaimee Seebohm said. "Our defence was on point, our offence was flowing - and that really comes from good defence - but we locked in yesterday and it was even better today.
"The beauty of yesterday and today, we score across the board, we're so deep, and that really helps in situations like this because other teams don't have the players to rotate as deep as we do."
Alison Ebzery, who only joined the team midway through the season, scored a team-high 20 points off the bench, pulled down seven rebounds and led Newcastle's relentless defensive effort.
Hannah Young had 17 points and seven rebounds, Jasmin Howe contributed 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals, and Lara McSpadden added 11 points and six rebounds.
Gabriella Adams-Gavet had six points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists, and provided muscle under the basket at both ends of the floor to help the Hunters out-rebound Canberra 45-33..
Jaimee Seebohm said she was surprised to be named MVP and was more than satisfied with a championship in her last game for Newcastle.
"It was a bit of a shock, because it could have gone to one of three other people off the top of my head, but that again goes back to everyone putting in such a great effort today," she said. "My MVP award today would have gone to Ali. She was beautiful, and did great work, but this is not what's it's about. I've been on the other side of this a thousand times before, and this is just so good.
"It's not awesome that we're leaving but it's so awesome to go out on a high like this. I've been playing 10 years in this league and I've won twice, so this is third time lucky and I think I'm going to retire so see you later, thanks Newcastle for the good times and for the great memories."
Young hit two three-pointers in a 12-point haul and Ebzery provided five points off the bench as the Hunters built a 24-11 lead by quarter-time. Another Young triple early in the second quarter helped take her tally to 17 points by half-time, and Ebzery made shots inside and out.
Defensively, the Hunters denied and deflected passes and scrambled to help each other on every possession, pushing their lead out to 55-21 by half-time against the shell-shocked Nationals.
Led by Waratah League MVP Keely Froling (34 points, 12 rebounds), Canberra restored some pride in the fourth quarter to reduce the final margin to something resembling respectable, but Shannon Seebohm excused his players for relaxing and savouring the moment.
Canberra were one of only two teams to defeat the Hunters during the regular season, winning 68-66 in overtime at Belconnen three weeks ago, but were out-classed on the big stage.
Newcastle qualified for the decider by beating Hornsby 77-53 in their semi-final on Saturday. Jaimee Seebohm led the way against her former team with 14 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.
McSpadden and Ebzery had 12 points each, and McSpadden added five rebounds and three blocks.
The Hunters established a 43-24 half-time lead, disrupting Hornsby with their swarming defence, then saw off the Spiders' third-quarter rally and cruised home in the fourth.
Earlier on Sunday, Newcastle secured the youth league women's championship with a nail-biting 63-59 victory over Norths Bears in the grand final.
Newcastle established an early double-digit lead but the Bears clawed it back and led by five with less than two minutes remaining. Clutch three-point shots by Chyra Evans, who was named MVP, and Kate Kingham proved crucial for Newcastle, who had last won the youth league title in 2015.