Expectations exceeded
Warragul and District Amateur Basketball Association has celebrated strong results at the Basketball Victoria Country Championships held in Bendigo.
WDABA vice president Sean Jessup said the girls under 12 team exceeded expectations to win through to the finals despite entering the tournament with a ranking of 31 out of 32 teams.
“The girls were ranked 31 in the state and won through to finish fourth in the state,” he said.
“The coach was under the impression that to get up from division four to division three would have been a good result, so he was over the moon that they ended up in division one.”
Division one had a strong representation from Gippsland, with Sale, Traralgon and Moe also winning through to the semi-finals.
“The girls had been getting smashed each week and were playing against teams that had annihilated them in the past,” Jessup said.
“They only dropped the two games and they were against Sale and Traralgon, and they ended up in the final.”
Coach Paul Potter said the division one semi final loss was an exceptional result for the team.
“Our objective going into championships was to play division three or four finals,” he said.
“To finish up playing division one semi-finals is beyond belief.
“This proves a great team environment and a never give up attitude can go a long way.
“As a coaching team we are so proud of the effort and development of all the girls.
“We went in with the moto ‘rattle some cages’ and we certainly did that with great wins over the much higher ranked opponents Wodonga, Southern Peninsula, Shepparton and Melton.”
The boys under 12 team also achieved a strong result, qualifying for premier division and winning through to the preliminary finals to finish in the top eight in the state.
Meanwhile, WDABA referees have also experienced recent success.
Brodie McLachlan collected the Rod Bush award for most improved senior male referee at Basketball Victoria’s awards breakfast.
Another local referee in David Cruickshank has recently returned from officiating the Asia and New Zealand championships in New Zealand.