Basketball: Phoenix rise again to pip Kool Kats in overtime

Polonia Phoenix emerged triumphant from the first derby of the new Scottish Womens' basketball league season when they recovered a deficit of ten points to pip Edinburgh Kool Kats 65-64 after overtime at Portobello High School.

It took a Julie Ritchie hook shot in the dying seconds of normal time to give the visitors a lifeline and take the game into the extra five minutes and the same player, an experienced Scottish international centre, scored the crucial winning basket from deep inside the key to give coach Stewart Harris' team a nailbiting success. But this was far from a one-woman effort, with Polonia fielding two of the winning Scottish team from this summer's Euro C cadette tournament in Monaco, Hilary Wood and Clare Paxton, in addition to another experienced senior cap Lynsey Campbell, who fouled out late on, and the determined Mitchell sisters Cathy and Ali, the latter hitting three crucial second-half three-pointers.

Kool Kats, who used only seven players and tried in vain to turn the match late on with full court pressure, were a far cry from the team who tested Scottish champions Glasgow Rocks last season. Their failure to put away their shots including free throws cost them dear, though they undoubtedly missed the injured Charlotte King.