ST Mary’s Orange and Tigers were the top two teams across the Hamilton Basketball Association Division 1 Women’s season, and it was only fitting that they met in the season decider on Tuesday night, with the summer premiership up for grabs.

It was a dominant start from St Mary’s Orange, with Phoebe Dunn and Jenna Loats both putting up three-pointers to grab the early advantage.

Maddison Cotten finally got Tigers on the scoreboard more than four minutes into the game, and from then on, the side conceded just two more points, while putting up 13 points at the other end to go into half time with a 15-8 lead.

The second half was a dour and defensive period, with scoring hard to come by.

Just 10 points were scored in the second half, as Tigers added six points to the half time total to eventually win, 19-14.

Tahlia Ross finished with five points for the winners, while Loats put up five points at the other end for St Mary’s Orange.

Tigers’ Mimi Chun was named the game MVP.

Tigers’ Rhianne Lewis said the rivalry between the two teams during the season meant the decider was always going to be a tough encounter.

“We have had a tough slog all year and very close games (against them), so it is nice to take the one that counts,” she said.

“We sat second, so we didn’t really have the pressure, but we fought every week and this week we toughed it out in the second half.”

With a defensive mindset, Tigers were able to restrict the likes of Grace Cleaver (four points) and Leesa Iredell (two points), giving the side an easier task offensively as well.

“I just kept saying to them to work hard in defence, defence will create offence, and that’s what they did,” Lewis said.

“The more they worked, the more they learnt to win.

“Both teams did defence very well, but sometimes you get those games.

“The top two teams in Div 1 always have that (physicality), the girls did a very good job bracing themselves and dealing with that and moving forward.”

With a low-scoring contest, it also meant the Saints only needed to get on a run late in the game to snatch victory, but Tigers’ hard work during the second half of the season prepared the players perfectly.

“We have been working on it probably the last probably 10 weeks, how to win the game when it does become pressurised,” Lewis said.

“Because we’re not a full offensive team, we like to create chances and we’ve taught ourselves how to win and it has paid off.

“Most of us are going around again next season.

“I think there is always a target on your back when you win a premiership, so we will see what happens.”