EVEN though it wasn’t held in town, organisers of the Wangaratta Under 12/14 Junior Basketball Tournament are calling it a massive success after a huge turnout from across the North East. Held in Wodonga, due to Wangaratta not having enough suitable courts to host a tournament of that size, juniors from across the region came together across Saturday and Sunday. The Warriors sent seven teams to compete, with three under 12 and four under 14 sides representing the home club. The under 12 D1 boys started off the tournament with two tough losses to Shepparton and Deniliquin but finished the round games strongly with big wins over Echuca and Yarrawonga, setting up a semi-final against Shepparton. The Warriors held a slim one-point lead at half time, but Shepparton dominated the second half, running out 12-point winners. The D2 boys had big wins against Euroa, Shepparton, Albury and Mansfield Blue, with their only loss in the pool games coming against Wodonga, which saw them finish second and a semi-final match up against Mansfield Gold. Unfortunately, the Warriors were no match for Mansfield Gold in the semi-final. The under 12 D1 girls battled bravely in their pool games against Echuca, Shepparton and Wodonga seeing them finish fourth and match-up against top placed Echuca in the semi-final. The young Warriors put in a much better performance against Echuca than in their earlier game, but unfortunately the end result was the same. In the under 14 division, the D1 boys showed patches of great play in their losses to Myrtleford, Wodonga 1, Echuca and Shepparton, and finished the weekend with a strong seven-point win over Wodonga 2. The D2 team had big wins against Shepparton and Myrtleford, and followed it up with a six-point win over Benalla, securing top spot in the pool. Their quarter final match-up against Yarrawonga saw the Warriors start slowly and found themselves 13 down at half-time. While the Warriors outscored Yarrawonga 23 to 14 in the second half, it wasn’t enough to claw back the half-time deficit, with the Warriors falling four points short. Wangaratta’s under 14 girls D1 side had a mixed weekend, with big losses to Echuca and Mansfield but were able to get close wins over Yarrawonga by two and Wodonga by one. Unfortunately, they missed out on a finals spot by percentage. The girls D2 squad finished their pool games on top of the ladder with wins against Euroa, Yarrawonga and Albury. A slow start in the quarter final against Deniliquin saw the girls down by seven points at half-time and while they outscored their opponents 10-5 in the second half, they fell short by two points. WBI president Adam Maher said despite the tournament being held elsewhere, it was a brilliant weekend. “There were lots of smiling faces at the end of it, a really good feeling around the courts for both the days,” he said. “There were lots of questions, obviously, about why we were in Wodonga and when we’re getting back and all of that. “There were a lot of conversations around what’s next from various associations, but on the whole, it’s a feel good tournament. “There were some really positive outcomes, and the coaches expressed how good their season had been and how much growth they've gone through from first game to last. “For the ones who are going to championships in the next few weeks, there were some positives for them – we know what we’ve got to work on this week for the 16s, and for the next three weeks for the 12s and 14s.”
