Day 2 of our Nationals campaign saw us having to play two matches to decide which half of the draw we would progress to.  We started the day at the Central Coast Adventist School playing against the North West Tasmania Thunder.  The girls were fired up and created a number of turnovers on their full court press.  They responded well to the Coach’s scout and shut down the Thunder’s baseline plays.  The Thunder were undisciplined with their fouls and so we were rewarded with a lot of free throws.  In combination with our outstanding shooting from outside the keyway, we scored 33 of our 61 points from free throws and three pointers for a comfortable win.

Heading into our second game of the day against the Newcastle Hunters we knew that the winner of this game would progress into the Championship division of the competition, so the pressure was on.  The match proceeded at a fast and furious pace with the lead changing a number of times.  We struggled to contain the drives of the Hunter’s stronger players but managed to run the ball on the fast break a number of times to keep the game even.  There was some great inside play from our girls created by good passing and looking for the open player.  With four minutes to go of the final quarter we were 4 points up but were unable to convert a number of opportunities that we had to get the win.  On the other hand Hunters did take their opportunities and managed a 10 point turn around that saw them defeat us by 6 points in an exciting and tense match.

While disappointed with the end result, we couldn’t be prouder of the girls and the way they played today.  They rose to the challenge of playing tougher teams than we get in our regular competition, put into play the many skills that they have been working on since joining our U12 program, and never gave up.  We now move into the Shield Division of the competition and look forward to our next challenge.

Article: Kerry Clarke