Monday, March 23, 2009

Pu Men wins 2009 HBL women's title

The story of a Cinderella team winning three games in three days for an improbable crown did not materialize. Yang-ming HS came up one win short of the making of an amazing story, losing 73-48 to Pu Men High School in HBL women's title game Sunday.

Pu Men dominated the game with its height advantage from start to finish. The southern school led 37-15 at halftime and never let Yang-ming get close. In fact, Pu Men HS was also a Cinderella team, winning a title six years after the school was established by a wealthy Buddhism organization. It made its first final four appearance just last year.

Center Chang Yi-lin had 22 points and 8 rebounds and received the MVP honor. Forward Wei Yu-chun had 26 points, shooting 6-of-10 from three.

The title was of course special for the players, but it's even more special for Pu Men head coach Lee Heng-shu, a former South Korean national who won Olympic Silver before coming to Taiwan for developing her professional career. Lee later became a head coach and now speaks fluent Mandarin.