In a thrilling championship game, No. 1 seed Liberty Maritime's Light Blue Crew defeated No. 2 Driftwood Day Camp by a score of 41-36 on Sunday, March 22. The victory capped a terrific season during which Liberty finished the regular season in first place and successfully defended its title that it earned last year. Driftwood also completed a great year, placing second in both the regular season and in the playoffs.

Liberty's Ali Simon once again led the way for her team, scoring 20 points and dominating the action throughout the game. Liberty started quickly, gaining a 10-4 advantage by the end of the first quarter. Driftwood rallied behind Kelly Quackenbush's 11 second period points, closing the gap. As the half-time buzzer sounded, Liberty held onto a tight 28-24 lead. Simon headed up the first half scoring with 12.

The third period began with a quick spurt from the Light Blue Crew, which widened its lead to 36-29. Soon after the fourth quarter was underway, two quick baskets by Quackenbush and Dana Arschin narrowed the contest again, to 38-34. Then Ali Janvey's bucket made it a two-point game.

In the middle of the final quarter, Liberty employed a tight 2-3 zone defense, which thwarted the Driftwood attack. Simon and Brook Shapiro dominated the boards in the last two minutes, preventing Driftwood from getting second and third chances to score. Driftwood was forced to foul in order to get back possession of the ball. But Shapiro converted 3 key pressure-packed foul shots to ice the game, making the final score 41-36.

Liberty's balanced attack was powered by Simon, Marissa Leiberman (6 pts.), Shapiro, (4 pts.), Jessie Kleinman (4 pts., playing her best game of the year), Lindsey Steam (2 pts.), Jourdan Kluger (2 pts.), Samantha Bernstein (2 pts.) and Samantha Spearling (1 pt.). Melissa Hoffman and Ali Derkatch mad key assists and provided strong rebounding throughout the game. Ashley Gold played sensational defense, which aided the victors.

Leading Driftwood were Quackenbush (18 pts.), Amanda Davis (6 pts.), Melanie Kraus (4 pts.), Tracey Alfanso (2 pts.), Dana Arschin (4 pts.) and Ali Janvey (2 pts.).