Junior Warriors rise up against some of state's best

JUNIOR Wangaratta Warriors squads rounded out their representative season strongly at the Junior Country Victoria Championships. Under 18 and under 16 boys and girls teams competed at the weekend-long tournament in Bendigo going up against some of best outfits in the state. Despite going winless in the pool round, the under 16 boys found their groove in the division two finals, winning back-to-back matches against Hamilton and Swan Hill to make the grand final. Going against fellow North East side Wodonga, the Warriors ran out of legs in the second half to go down by nine points, but still claimed the division two silver medal. Sam Kain and Charlie Flynn caught fire on the offensive end in the Sunday finals, leading the improbable run. Wangaratta Warriors president Adam Maher said it was fantastic for Wangaratta basketball to have had grand final representation in the state country tournament. “They did extremely well, they went in as an underdog but they were really happy along with coach Jacqui (Henry),” he said. “They kept with them in the grand final, it was only right at the end they couldn’t quite bring it home. “We had a few battered bodies by the end of it but that’s part of the champs, you’ve got to sustain play at a high level for a number of games across the weekend.” The under 16 girls had a thrilling come from behind win against Swan Hill in their quarter-final, with Meg Evans hitting a walk-off three pointer on the buzzer to advance to the semi-finals. Their tournament came to a halt against eventual division two champions Surfcoast Chargers. The under 18 boys only just missed out on division one finals by points differential in the group stages, but made their way to the division two semi-finals before losing by seven points to Warragul. Maher, who was a part of the under 18's girls coaching staff, said despite the girls falling short of a finals run, they left their best tournament performance of the season until last. “All the sides weren’t too far off; we had a lot of top agers in the 18s having their last ever tournament in a junior capacity, so it was pretty special to them,” he said. “The 18 boys did extremely well and the 16 girls were the same, they both played out of their skin and probably did a lot better than what everyone might have expected, which is what champs is all about. “We always want to play at the top level in Wangaratta, we have played in the division three and four tournament before but we always want to try and present ourselves the best we can.”

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