Girls set to bounce back after defeat

Horsham Amateur Basketball Association’s under-16 girls will look to bounce back next season following a disappointing end to their state championships campaign.

The Horsham outfit won all three pool matches on Saturday before stumbling against Swan Hill Flyers in Sunday’s finals round.

Coach Damien Kilpatrick said his charges performed well but copped a couple of serious injuries in their last game on Saturday.

“To the girl’s credit they tried to play but it took its toll on the team in the final, unfortunately,” he said.

“There was disappointment on their faces and I expected there to be – we knew it was there for us and we didn’t play 40 minutes of basketball when it counted.

“A couple of injuries stopped our run but we only put together 15 minutes of basketball and lost by four points.

“Yes it was disappointing but we’ll come back and develop. They’ll only benefit from it.”

Kilpatrick said his team comprised predominantly bottom-age players.

“This year was a development year. They’ve got next year to go at this level,” he said.

“The team that won it, we beat com- prehensively a couple of months ago. I personally think we were the best team there by quite a lot. We stumbled at the last hurdle, unfortunately.”

Kilpatrick said boys and girls basketball in the region was enjoying a resurgence.

“Basketball in Horsham has been really starting to develop in the past four or five years,” he said.

“It goes in waves and it is picking up again. At the moment a lot are bottom age and going away successful at bottom age – it’s scary to think what they’ll achieve at top age.

“Our under-16 girls had a good year. Teams better watch out next year.”