ST Mary’s has claimed the double, winning the Hamilton Basketball Association (HBA) Division 1 Women’s and Division 1 Men’s premierships on Tuesday night.

The Saints went into the Division 1 Women’s decider as raging favourites, having gone through the regular season undefeated, and while Sportscene Minders pushed the Saints right to the end, the result went as expected with St Mary’s claiming a 65-55 victory.

Both teams opened their scoring with three-pointers, before Leesa Iredell and Grace Cleaver helped push the Saints’ advantage out to double digits early in the first half.

By the midway point of the half, St Mary’s led 35-30, with Minders holding all the momentum.

The momentum continued to swing back and forth, before Makayla Hutchins went to the foul line with 4.8 seconds left to reduce the deficit but was unable to make it count with the scoreboard showing a five-point margin.

Clare Crawford’s influence grew in the second half, as Cleaver continued to make important plays, eventually helping the Saints to a 10-point win to cap off the perfect season.

Cleaver finished with 22 points for the Saints, while Zoe Hill topped Minders’ scoring with 12 points.

Crawford was named the grand final MVP.

Saints coach, Paul Cleaver said the team’s ability to rally at critical times was pivotal to the result.

“I think our weapon all year was being able to maintain our composure, they are a good side and we have had some good battles this season,” he said.

“They hit a couple of threes at one stage, it was up and down all game, but was just lucky we were able to always maintain a bit of a buffer.

“Definitely got a bit more physical as the game went on, and it made it harder to score at times.”