Basketball

WHAT an amazing weekend of basketball at the Athletic Southern Peninsula Tournament 2023 for the Under 12 Girls Gold Team; Alice Rademaker, Hannah Bruce, Kate Mercieca, Lara Harrop, Matilda Mills, Macey Thornton, Quinn Walsh and Scout Gardner.

There was a lot of excitement and anticipation leading up to this weekend, it is always a fantastic run tournament that Mansfield Basketball Club likes to be a part of.

With an early morning start on Saturday, the first game to kick off the tournament was against Craigieburn Eagles.

Glenn Thornton and John Harrop had the girls fired up and it showed in their incredible defensive pressure.

The Mansfield girls came home with the win 15 to 2.

The next game played against Camberwell showed how far the girls have really come with their skill levels and working together as a team.

They continued the intense mid-court pressure, pressure with jumps balls and well-timed intercepts, leading them to their biggest win of the weekend 28 to nil.

Another early game on Sunday morning began round four at Rosebud Stadium and saw the girls come up against their toughest opponent yet, the Korumburra Wildcats.

With lots of encouragement and instruction from coaches Thornton and Harrop, the girls dug deep, continued to play as a team and showed great support between themselves with lots of cheering and high fives from each other.

It was another win 13 to 9.

After a small amount of downtime, our next game against Mornington Breakers was again another tough one for the girls.

They stuck to their own game plan, played to their strengths and skills to come away with another win 18 to 12, securing their spot in the grand final against the Wodonga Wolves.

Having won against Wodonga previously in the grand final in Echuca, the Wodonga Wolves were definitely out to settle the score.

They stepped up their defensive play, but with our team chant “Heads up, never give up” in mind, the girls fought so hard and stretched the lead.

In the end, they won the intense game 14 to 9, making them the Under 12 Division 4 winners and undefeated for the tournament.

So much fun was had over the weekend by all the players and supporters.

Watching these girls improve every game, working together as a team and improving on their own personal goals is so amazing to watch.

Bring on the Shepparton tournament in three weeks - these girls are on fire.