ABA 2023-24: Denmark clinch first women’s A-grade title by upsetting Barking Owls in overtime thriller

Denmark completed a fairytale first season in the Albany Basketball Association women’s A-grade competition, claiming grand final glory with a thrilling overtime win against title fancies the Barking Owls on Friday night. After being locked at 28 points apiece with the Barking Owls through a gruelling 40 minutes of basketball played at an extremely high tempo, the two were forced to go one more five-minute period. Denmark remained cool and composed in a frenetic final five minutes to take a stunning 39-37 grand final victory. Winning coach Luke Wilson said the qualifying final loss to their grand final opponents was what was needed for Denmark to get their retribution in the decider. “I think it was good for the girls to have a loss and made them super hungry,” he said. “Our group chat all week was just like talking strategies discussing what we can do and what we are going to change. “I think it really just nailed down the strategy we needed to get through. “It was scintillating, it was insane and my heart was racing.” Denmark took a slim lead into the dying seconds of the encounter and the Owls were forced to foul in an attempt to win the ball back. With just three seconds on the clock, the Owls hurriedly in-bounded the ball to their offensive star Benson, who attempted a deep shot for the win. Spectators, fans and coaches could only watch on for what seemed an eternity as the ball flew through the air before bouncing off the iron, handing Denmark the win. Henderson was judged the final’s most valuable player after her eight points, three coming at crucial times, while the league’s three-time season MVP Danielle Carne was enormous at both ends of the floor with 10 points and nine rebounds. “For me, it was her (Henderson’s) ball handling up the court. In the second half, they tried some stints of full-court man pressure, and Emma just carved them up,” Wilson said. “She dribbled through it, turning it into a 5-on-4 or 5-on-3 advantage at some points. “For a young player, she’s so calm under pressure, it was absolutely brilliant to watch. “As a coach, it’s super rare just to have someone as reliable as Danielle (Carne). “There’s not a whole lot I need to say to her and not really much feedback, she’s incredible.” Rebecca Goodliffe and Jade McHenry were tasked with marking Benson, quelling her overall impact. Benson still managed to notch a floor-high 17 points with two three-pointers, despite often facing heavily contested shots. “Our scout was keep Bec (Benson) to 15 or less, and we’ll win the game. She got 17 and we still got the win so it’s good,” Wilson said. “Jade (McHenry) and Rebecca (Goodliffe) were pretty much interchanging on her. Bec was our number one and it was just whenever she ran out of legs we put Jade on her. “Bec (Goodliffe) has one of the deepest tanks, good reflexes knows how to play hustle defence so I think her and Jade were absolutely pivotal for us.” Owls coach Justin Benson said his side’s inability to capitalise on their scoring opportunities was ultimately their downfall. “We had plenty of opportunities to win it. We talked about what we wanted to do and we tried to do it, the girls played great, but they were just better,” Benson said. “They did an excellent job (on Rebecca Benson), I thought she still played really well and it was clearly a targeted area for them. “The good thing about Bec is she has a lot of gravity so she draws a lot of plays which opens up for other people. Our scoring just dried up a bit tonight for whatever reason but the girls played well overall.”