Sport
14 November, 2023
Wildcats under-14 teams runners-up on weekend
The Wildcats under 14 boys and girls basketball teams were runners-up in the Intersport Horsham Junior Classic which was held over the weekend. The under-14 boys played in division one for the first time in 12 years and made it to the Grand Final...
The Wildcats under 14 boys and girls basketball teams were runners-up in the Intersport Horsham Junior Classic which was held over the weekend.
The under-14 boys played in division one for the first time in 12 years and made it to the Grand Final only dropping one match which was against the Portland Coasters.
They faced Swan Hill Flyers in the Grand Final, in which they beat in game two, 29-26. In the Grand Final, the Flyers reversed that result winning 45-36. The Wildcats battled hard with Charlie Williams scoring a game high 20 points.
Williams scored an impressive 96 points for the tournament across the six games which started on Friday night. Tyler Templeton scored 63 and Tobias Arnel scored 46.
The under-14 girls played in division two and made it to the Grand Final with an unbeaten record. They put up a brave effort in the Grand Final losing by four points to Maryborough Blazers in a low scoring game, 18-14.
Piper Knorpp shot a game high 8 points, equal with Maryborough's Phoebe Porter. In the six games for the tournament, Piper Knorpp shot an impressive 70 points.
The Wildcats under-16 boys had two teams in division two which were in different pools, and the team that won the tournament in Swan Hill two weeks ago came close to contesting another tournament win, going down by two points against the Hamilton Hurricanes in their Semi Final on Sunday afternoon.
Riley Templeton scored 45 points, Hayden Polack, 44, and Riley Watson, 39, over their five games.
Earlier on in the day the other Wildcats under 16 team won the consolation final against Maryborough Blazers for third place by five points. Tyler Preston scored 22 points for the tournament with Tylah McLean scoring 20.
The Wildcats also tasted victory in the other age groups.
The under-12 boys had a thrilling 22-19 point win against the Ararat Redbacks. Hudson Roche scored a game high 12 points in the win. He scored 21 for the tournament.
Harmoni Bell led the under-16 girls to a win against Colac Kookas, shooting a game high 16 points in the 34-26 point win. Milla Adams also scored in double figures, with 10 points, giving her 28 points for the tournament.
Whilst the under-18 boys and girls teams didn't get a win, the boys came close on two occasions, losing by two points to Portland Coasters and four to Maryborough Blazers. Koby Hallam scored 36 points over their four games. The girls battled well in their four matches with Lucy Holland scoring 15 points.
Under-14's boys coach, Brad Krahe said they can be proud of their performance.
"If you handed me this at the start of the tournament, I would have taken it," he said.
"Warrack don't usually play division one and it's been about 12 years since I coached a division one team. We requested to move up and the boys showed the rest of the state of basketball that Warracknabeal is on the map.
"This side can really go far and the boys are a great bunch and are very good at executing what you want them to do and that is a sign of a great team."
Krahe explained that the Flyers had to bring their a-game to beat them and the boys can draw a lot of confidence from that.
"They just couldn't miss. Every shot they played went in," he said.
"We have beaten them twice the last couple weeks and it was the best they played and they turned the tables on us.
"It goes to show that if you want to beat us you have to bring that sort of game, so I couldn't be prouder of the boys and they know they can win tournaments."
Under-14's girls coach, Dean Gunn said that whilst it is disappointing, the improvement the girls had shown is encouraging and they can hold their heads up high.
"They had a really good tournament. Two weeks earlier we played in division one and didn't win a game and we turned it around this weekend and got to the Grand Final unbeaten." he said.
"It's disappointing that we didn't win but I am happy with the improvement the girls have made in the last couple of weeks.
"It was a big weekend for them playing one match on Friday, two on Saturday and then three on Sunday, so to get as far as they did, it was a good result."
