Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
CJMM clinched the women's category of the YOU.C1000 Cup after defeating Propel x Teik Goldsmith 54-44 in the final on Wednesday.
Nur Hafizah Hj Abd Sidek shut down the box-and-one defence to finish with a game-high of 24 points for CJMM.
The towering Suzanne van der Marel was also influential with 14 points to her name in the triumph.
On the other hand, Lim Giuk Ting poured in 18 points to pace Propel x Teik Goldsmith.
Mayble Ling was the other in double figures with 10 in a losing effort.
Fizah, who is a three-time SEA Games bronze medallist for Brunei netball, credited everyone on the team for the win.
"I 100% for sure can say we all did it as a team. Everyone stepped up and didn't give up till the end," said Fizah in an interview with BruSports News.
"And we kind of executed some of the great plays designed and instructed by our coach Tia.
"It was a tough and intense game but a very good one and I hope everyone including the audience enjoyed it as much we did," she added.
When asked about the defence deployed on her, she replied: "Truthfully, I was out of gas in the fourth quarter, but got to do what you got to do to push through and my team helped me stay composed.
"And I'm honestly so proud of each one of them. Big thanks to our coaches, Tia and Steven for believing in us and their commitment on getting us better in just a few weeks," she added.
"They were our biggest support, and I believe that had helped us win this championship," continued Fizah.
Propel x Teik Goldsmith opened up a 17-12 lead at the end of the first quarter after back-to-back fastbreaks courtesy of Ling at the BBA Court in Batu Bersurat.
CJMM went down the block early to Van der Marel to score and they had plenty of second chance opportunities.
The game was tied with 7:50 in the second quarter after a steal and finish by Fizah to cap off an 8-0 run.
CJMM took the lead for the first after Chieng Hei Yien knocked down a freethrow to make it 27-26 with 24 seconds to the break.
Propel x Teik Goldsmith got back in front 34-29 after Lim completed a three-point play three minutes into the second half.
Both sides struggled to get points from the field until late on in the stanza.
Fizah knocked down a trey to put her side back on top 36-34 with 1:20 left in the third.
She then found Van der Marel for an easy two in the paint.
Lim got one to fall but Trisha Lai responded by driving in for an assist to Van der Marel to score just before the buzzer to put CJMM up 40-36 going into the decisive frame.
The game could have gone either way with the scoreboard in favour of CJMM at 46-42 midway though the fourth.
Michelle Carrido came up clutch off the bench for back-to-back jumpshots to put her side up 50-43 with 3:20 left to play.
Propel x Teik Goldsmith took a timeout soon after but an offensive putback by Chieng the next possession to make it a nine-point game sealed it for CJMM.
Meanwhile, Mango Cake bagged the bronze after defeating Hoopsters 66-22 in the third-place playoff.
