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Under 18 Girls take out Ballarat Tournament
The Craigieburn Eagles Under 18 Women have been working in conjunction with the Big V Women program for the past two years to further enhance both the development of the girls and their pathway to senior basketball. After a victory in Metro 1 in 2005, the program achieved its greatest success this season by qualifying to compete in Victorian Championships.
Over the course of the season we have become more and more competitive with the best club teams in the country, despite having no player over 172 cm! (a guard in any other team!) Our trainings have been highly focussed on skill development over team strategy and this has seen huge improvements in players over the year.
After poor performances at both the Southern Peninsula and Eltham tournaments, the team entered the Queen's Birthday Weekend Ballarat Tournament, a major event on the basketball calendar and the biggest tournament outside the National Classic for that weekend. Entering A grade, we were confident of being competitive until, for various commitments, we lost Rhiannon Gambling, Lana Carruthers and Chanel Prestia from the team for the trip. With six players left, we were also to lose Belinda Bourne from any Monday games due to work.
At that point the focus shifted to fun. After a long, tough year of VC we now saw a weekend away at the halfway point as an opportunity to relax and enjoy it. With limited numbers, I also saw the opportunity to work on some specific areas of coaching and get something out of the weekend from that point as well.
The team of captain Jacinta Scott, Breannan Small, Amy Mullins, Madie Richards, Kaitlyn Patterson and Belinda Bourne made the trip to cold Ballarat to take on four quality teams from Whittlesea, Eltham, Kilsyth and Diamond Valley.
A come from behind win against Whittlesea on Saturday morning was followed by a gutsy fought out win over Eltham on Saturday afternoon. Both opponents were at full strength and played hard but our endeavour and teamwork was just too much for them.
Sunday afternoon saw us play Kilsyth, a team that defeated us comfortable in pre-season. At 18-30 down, we shifted to a man to man defence and poured in the next 15 points unanswered to take the game 33-30 in a phenomenal game. The win guaranteed us a spot in Monday's grand final, albeit without Belinda. On a high we then took on a very physical (!) Diamond Valley team Sunday evening, who, thanks to other results, would definitely be playing us in the final the next day regardless of the outcome. In a very rough, tough game which saw some rather dubious displays of sportsmanship from our opponents, the weekend had taken it's toll on us to a point and we were unable to get the win, going down by 9 points. Given we were playing them in the final, it was not our greatest concern.
We bid farewell to Belinda with expectations of a grand final victory fairly low. With just five players and a longer game, the prospects of staying out of foul trouble while still being able to apply enough pressure defensively, were slim. Smart play would be the key and still, we would need some luck on our side.
We started aggressively and immediately the momentum was with us. We forced Diamond Valley into fouls themselves by attacking the basket and this also led to good, high percentage baskets. Jacinta's third foul in the first half had me worried but we had a handy lead throughout and Diamond Valley were shell shocked, clearly expecting an easy run after the previous night's win.
Leading by as many as 8, the DV girls closed the gap and even took a slim lead mid second half. We were still safe from a foul point of view with nobody over three and less than 10 minutes to go. Madie was outstanding, pushing the fast break, rebounding strongly and keeping the score ticking over, a fine performance after being injured the previous night. But with the game poised for Diamond Valley to run over us with their depth of players, our girls rallied with a determination not to lose, and began to push the score out again. Kaitlyn got to the foul line constantly while Amy's defence lifted. We began to get away from the DV team again and with them starting to worry, we needed a smart, controlled finish. How glad was I that I had Brea to run the point in times like these. When DV looked to foul us to get the ball, we smartly made sure Jacinta had the ball and our best foul shooter didn't let us down.
With probably the most controlled and smartest finish to a great game, our five, yes FIVE girls withstood the late barrage of physicality (!) fro our opponents and toughed out a fantastic 9 point win, 43-34. Jacinta's free throw after the buzzer after being crunched on the siren was a fitting exclamation point!
I told the girls after the game and later in the week - in 16 years of coaching at this and various levels, I have never been involved in a better, more inspiring, gutsy tournament performance than this. I am so, SO proud of the efforts of these girls and believe it is a true indication of just how far our program has come in a short time and a display, not just of the improvement in skill these girls have made this season, but of their vast improvement in playing intelligent, controlled basketball under pressure.
"Madie Richards was duly recognised for an outstanding game by being awarded grand final MVP."
A brilliant result, a performance full of heart and a weekend all at the Eagles should be very proud of. One I will not forget and I hope the girls don't either, for a long time!
Warren Taylor
Head Coach. |
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