Under 18 Girls

 

The campaign started with their first game on the Friday night versus Altona Pirates at Altona. Our girls got off to a slow start but ran out easy winners 43-19.

 

Next day they played PC Allstars in the early afternoon again at Altona, winning easily 51-6.

 

Saturday night saw the girls come up against a team called Mixed Bag, again at Altona. Mixed Bag were basically a team made up of girls who played rep for both Altona & Werribee. They had to dig a little deeper to win this game, and it wasn't as easy as it appears on the 55-28 scoreline. It was a real team effort with good teamwork the key, sharing the ball and miserly defensive work.

 

On Sunday afternoon we played Altona Laverton Eagles at Keilor. This turned out to be another easy win, the final score is not shown on the tournament website, but the winning margin was in excess of 30 points.

 

Four wins from four games saw the girls straight into the grand final, which was fixtured to be played less than two hours after the final round game, and a trip back to Altona stadium to boot. The team we were playing was made up of Werribee rep players that called themselves the Flames Blazers. They had also won all four round games. In a pool of six teams and only four round games, this was a team we had not met previously.

 

The game started with a lot of promise, with our girls getting out to an early lead. The opposition was very physical, and they racked up a mass of team fouls. The Bulldogs held on to their lead for most of the first half, but found themselves a point down at half time, the first time they had been headed in five games.

 

The second half was a tight tussle. The Flames Blazers continued to play very physical basketball. And continued to rack up the fouls. Things were starting to look bleak with about three minutes to play and we were 6 points adrift. The game was going goal-for-goal, but Flames Blazers found themselves in team foul trouble, and sent our girls to the line about six times in the last two minutes or so.

 

Due to some good free-throw shooting and some determined drives to the hoop, a six-point deficit turned into a three point lead within the last 30 seconds. Bulldogs managed to hold on and record a well-deserved win.

 

All in all it was a fantastic team effort, for the round games as well as for the grand final.

 

The girls would like to again thank Chelsea for giving up her time over the weekend to do the coaching duties. A mention also to Stuart Ritchie who took the helm on short notice for the game on the Friday night, and Nadia Stevens for taking on the role as team manager.

 

The girls names from left to right:

 

Bec Marshall

Tamara Knox

Chelsea Giannino (Coach)

Naomi Stevens

Jessica Ellis (Back)

Meg de Jong (Front)

Madi Ritchie

Sam Frigo